


The way I am

by Roostertease_it



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Homophobia, Homophobic Language, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-03
Updated: 2014-12-01
Packaged: 2018-01-21 17:08:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 37,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1557833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roostertease_it/pseuds/Roostertease_it
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michael always thought he was straight as an arrow but the appearance of one Gavin free has him doubting that fact <br/>(high school AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fan-fiction, so please don't slaughter me, but if any of you have any critiques that might help feel free to comment!

"Hey, Michael, get back here!"

This was the voice of Michael's boss, Geoff, the head chef and co-owner of  _rooster-teeth_ restaurant. Michael worked there as a waiter along with his best friend Ray, his girlfriend Lindsay and a few other people, whose names he didn't bother to remember.

"one minute" he called, twisting the sign on the door around so it read "closed" and hurried into the kitchen, almost everyone had already gone home, the place was quiet and only Ray, Geoff and himself were still there.

"uhh, i need you to clean some dishes with Ray for me"

"Got it, boss"

The pair certainly did not work in silence, loudly talking and joking around. Occasionally Geoff would join in too, he liked ray and Michael, they made him laugh.

"Hey geoff, when does that British dude get here" Ray asked

"tomorrow actually, i'm collecting him from the airport at one" Geoff said "you guys will see him on Monday he's gonna go to your school, be nice"

"whats his name again?"

"Gavin Free"

"Ok, we'll be nice right Michael?"

"Sure if he's not an asshole"

They guys laughed at that comment, but Michael was serious he would not deal with an asshole.

* * *

 

_Monday_

 

"so that guy's here today huh" Said Ray, leaning on the locker next to Michael's.

"yeah" he replied stuffing books into his bag 

Michael was not looking forward to meeting this guy, he had never liked making new friends it was hard for him, but Gavin would be staying with geoff and working in the restaurant so it was pretty much required that he get along with him. 

"that's the bell, bye buddy"

"have a nice nap"

"I sure will"

Michael walked down the hall and into his classroom and sat next to Lindsay.

"hey" he said

"hey, I met that guy"

"who, what guy?" he said, a little annoyed

Lindsay laughed at his reaction and said "Gavin, he's kinda weird but harmless"

"Oh right" Michael looked away, he didn't particularly want to discuss Gavin so he pretended to be concentrating on what the teacher was saying.

Later when it lunchtime Michael avoided the cafeteria  because he knew that if he went there he was bound to meet Gavin, so he convinced Lindsay to go to some secluded corner of the school to eat.

"so, whats up?" asked Lindsay

"nothing"

Lindsay raised her eyebrows, she already knew that Gavin was the reason they were there, he never took her away by to be alone before and she wasn't stupid.

"You're gonna have to talk to him sometime" 

Michael smiled weakly, she knew him well "yeah, i know, but the longer i can put it off the better in my opinion"

"well, OK, but I think he's cool, you'd like him"

He sighed "I suppose I'll try"

Lindsay clapped "yay!!"

"Man, i hate you" he said smiling

It was at the end of school while at his locker that Michael saw him, Gavin that is, but at the time he didn't know it was him. he saw the boy walking down the hall, tall and lean with brown-blond scruffy hair and damn was he hot. Michael felt his heart flutter when the two made eye-contact, but became confused when the stranger started to walk towards him.

"hello" he said smiling

"Who the heck are you?"

"Oh we haven't met-"

"i know that much"

"Gavin. I'm Gavin free, You're Michael"

"I know who the fuck I am but why do you?"

he laughed "Ray said you'd be rude"

Michael suddenly didn't like him so much, he slammed his locker and stormed past Gavin and towards the door.

"hey wait, sorry, Ray showed me a picture of you that's how I know who you are"

Michael rolled his eyes and kept walking.

"Michael, wait, please"

His strong British accent seemed, for some reason, to butcher his name horribly. Micheal stopped walking and flipped around to face Gavin.

"It's Michael, alright, not Mi-cool idiot"

"That's what I said"

Michael put his hands on his face and thought "this guy can't be serious"

"I see you've met our new guy" said Ray whose sudden appearance did nothing to lessen Michael's anger

"Yeah, yeah i have" he said "and I'm going home"

* * *

Ray and Gavin watched him leave.

"i don't think he likes me all that much"

"You kidding? he loves you" laughed ray " real talk though just give him some time, he'll come around once he knows you better. "

"Are you sure?, it didn't look like he wanted to give me a chance at all"

"Yeah, you must have just annoyed him, He didn't like me at the start either, took me weeks to be friends with that asshole"

Gavin felt reassured by Ray's advice, Michael's attitude had certainly interested him and there was no way he'd give up on being his friend.

* * *

 

Michael walked home trying to process his thoughts, Gavin had annoyed him but then again almost everyone did, also, calling him rude the first time they met wasn't the best move. 

"What a fucking idiot, thank the lord he's got his looks" he cursed, vocalizing his thoughts.

He sighed inwardly and decided, just this once, to give him another chance for geoff.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the start I had to add a new character for reasons, I tried to add as much mavin-y goodness as possible!

_beep, beep, beep._

Michael groaned and rolled over, having the least amount of motivation to go to school that he'd ever had before

_beep, beep, beep._

"Fuck"he muttered slapping the alarm and sitting up. His mind flicked to Gavin and he realised he'd have to deal with him again today. he rubbed his eyes lazily, stretched and went downstairs.

"Morning, Michael" said his mother "I made breakfast"

"Thanks"

He joined his father at the table who looked up from his phone and smiled.

"My boss' son is giving you a ride today"

"Who? and Why I can easily walk myself" he said, obviously irritated with the situation

"Josh Matthews, I told my boss about you and he told me that his son is in your school and grade"

"Yeah I know him, he's a douchebag"

"Michael"His father said sternly " It's important you get along with him, douchebag or not"

He sighed, this week wasn't getting any better.

Michael was waiting outside his house grumbling to himself when josh arrived.

"Hey loser, over here"

Michael looked up to face Josh who was leaning out of the driver side window, he picked his bag up and headed over.

Josh had short dark brunette hair, was relatively attractive, tall and, naturally, he played football.

"Hi"

"Get in, don't scratch or mess up my car and definitely do not talk to me in school"

"Didn't plan to" Murmured Micheal, reaching for the handle and slipping inside.

"What was that?"

"Nothing"

Josh sped off, not giving a single shit about anyone except himself, he took out his phone out twelve times (Michael counted) to text and ran two stoplights.

"My dad said I have to drive your ass to school everyday because you can't afford a car or the bus or whatever, so when we get there just get out and leave, by the way don't talk to my friends ."

Michael raised his eyebrows and rolled his eyes, this guy thought he was the shit, better than everyone that surrounds him. Michael decided to ignore his arrogant behavior for two reasons, one for his father's career and two if he got started with this asshole he would probably end up beating him to death.

When the car, after what seemed like hours, parked at the school josh immediately motioned at the door and said "Out". Michael complied being more than happy to be at the end of this ride.

"Hey josh who's that dude"

"Some guy my dads got me driving to school"

This small snippet of conversation made Michael wonder if Josh even knew his name but he came to the conclusion he didn't give a shit.

Michael spotted Ray alone at the entrance and almost cried with joy.

"Ray!"

"I saw you get out of Josh's car...why?"

"Long story"

* * *

"So, Josh Matthews is your dad's boss' son" said Lindsay, taking a bite of her ham sandwich

"Yes"

"Weird" said Ray

"More like annoying"

"Who's Josh Matthews?" asked Gavin

Micheal swiveled around in his chair and pointed "The black-haired guy currently telling Carl woods  _exactly_  what he thinks about his new glasses"

"I like Carl he's funny" said Gavin

"Not enough for Josh I guess"

There was an awkward lull in the conversation before ray broke it "You guys wanna come over later"

"Yeah" said both Michael and Lindsay

"can I...can I come?" Gavin said sheepishly

ray lightly punched him on the shoulder "of course you dumbass"

Gavin smiled like an idiot, glad to be a part of the group, even if it was in a relatively small way.

* * *

The time that they were at ray's house was almost never spent in any other way than playing video games, because he owned all the best games. He had a shelf where he collected them and they were almost precious to him the reason for this was that he'd save up for each and every one on his own.

"Whoa" Gavin's eyes widened "I've never seen this many games before!"

Ray grinned "Cool right"

"you got halo?"

_"do I have halo"_

"he has fucking  _everything"_

When they started playing Gavin was pretty tame, he didn't dare trying anything but it wasn't long before he started pulling juvenile tricks on Michael, He loved to annoy him and see him get flustered and red in anger. Eventually Lindsay and Ray sat back and watched them play together, laughing in the background and enjoying Michael's reaction almost as much as Gavin did.

"God-DAMMIT GAVIN"

"oooOOOH MICHAEL" squawked Gavin as Michael dived at him and wrestled him to the floor

"Will. you. fucking. stop" He said while tickling him

"Michael, MIchAEL STOP"

"Get a room" said Ray

Michael immediately sat up "Shut it ray"

"Ray!" it was his mother, Ray disappeared for a few moments before reappearing and saying they had to leave.

Michael was slightly confused and concerned as they'd never left this soon before but he brushed the feeling off and and promptly left starting off towards his house along with Lindsay who lived in the same direction.

"Well it's seems you've warmed up to him"

"Who? Gavin? no he's annoying"

"Shut up you loved every second of that"

Michael blushed furiously and walked faster away from her "and so what if I did"

Lindsay laughed and caught up to him "I bet you made Gavin happy"

Michael ran ahead smiling to the Darkening sky maybe he did like Gavin, a little.

* * *

Gavin walked into the Ramsey Household beaming.

"How was Ray's?" called Griffon

"It was bloody brilliant" he said thinking of Michael.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A whole lot of mavin this time!!

The group spent everyday that week at ray's house and it became somewhat of a routine for Gavin to get Michael all riled up and for Michael to scream and shout at him. Although he would hate to admit it they all knew that Michael enjoyed their time together immensely.

That Friday evening Michael found himself looking forward to work, this was because he and Gavin shared the same shift that night.

Michael was a bit nervous to work in front of Gavin and cursed himself for it but he breathed a sigh of relief when Gavin was put to work in the kitchen washing dishes, Geoff had decided he was way too clumsy to wait tables.

He found himself experiencing some sort of weird performance anxiety when he realised Gavin was watching him, He kept stumbling over his words and messing up orders.

* * *

Gavin watched Michael intently, his brows were furrowed and he was slightly perplexed. you see, People who knew Michael were always surprised at how he behaved towards the customers, he never contradicted them, he had a real "the customer is always right" attitude. Many of them would compliment him and he was well tipped. Gavin had never seen this side of him before and was certainly eager to see more.

When Michael's eyes caught his he faced down and pretended he wasn't looking. he jumped when Michael walked through the door.

"Can you stop"

"Stop what" said Gavin, blushing.

"You know what stupid" he said raising his eyebrows "You're staring at me"

"W-what? no"

Michael was silent for a moment when he started to crack up.

"Why are you laughing"

"Because you're  _terrible_  at lying"

Gavin blushed a deeper shade of red then he started to laugh, he flicked water at Michael and said "Shut up!"

"Oh, so you wanna play like that"

He dipped his hands into the water, grabbed Gavin with one arm and used the other to wipe it all over His face. He struggled and coo'd but Micheal didn't stop until Geoff intervened.

"Hey, I know you guy's are enjoying suckin' dick over there but we have people to serve"

Michael sprang away from Gavin and straightened himself up before turning to face geoff, saying a quiet sorry, and returning to wait tables.

Geoff smiled to himself and went back to his cooking.

* * *

When his shift was over, a few hours later, Michael went in to the kitchen and said "I'm gonna go now geoff, see you tomorrow"

"Sure, buddy, good work"

Gavin emerged from the bathroom saying"Hey! wait for me, I'll walk you home"

"Gavin, I can drive you back later"

"Nah I'll walk with him" He gripped Michael's wrist and led him through the back way.

"Why are you walking me home?, isn't Geoff's house the other way"

Gavin shrugged "Felt like it"

"Oh"

They carried on in silence before Gavin's Eyes lit up and he said "Wanna do something fun?"

"Like what?"

"Uh I dunno"

"You sound like an idiot"

"No wait I've got it, there's this house I saw yesterday..." He trailed off, putting his hands up to his face, deep in concentration "follow me" he shouted running away.

"What the hell" Michael complied, catching up with ease.

After about ten minutes of running through the streets and alleys and into the suburbs, Gavin stopped and crouched down.

"Why'd you stop?"

"One, I've a stitch and two we're here"

"We're where"

"Look, that Flag, lets get it"

On the front of the house there was a huge american flag, the windows were dark and it was quiet.

"Are you stupid?"

"Yeah, no!, I'll climb up on that roof and get it then we go"

"Whatever, if you think you can do it, I'm game"

Gavin walked up to the low Roof assessed it and called Micheal over "give me a boost"

Michael sighed and squatted, Gavin put his feet on Michael's shoulders and he slowly lifted Gavin up " can you reach it?"

"wait"

Gavin put all his weight on one leg and reached as far as he could and lifted himself on the patio roof.

"Hurry the fuck up"

"Got it"

He but his legs over the side of the roof and edged himself slowly further before jumping down, he waved it in front of Michael's face and said excitedly "We did it!"

"Hey! what're you doing" the shout came from the neighbors garden and made them both jump a foot into the air.

they looked at each other and simultaneously shouted "Run!"

"Get back here!"

They bolted away, back the way they came a middle aged, overweight, white man in not-so-hot pursuit. They knew full well they wouldn't get caught but the feeling of being chased was exhilarating.

while the man was still relatively far away they were getting tired they turned a corner and decide to hide, they spotted a park and ran towards it.

"Over here" Gavin Panted, running into a park.

He climbed into a plastic tunnel connecting a slide and a ladder.

"Get In!" He reached his hands out and pulled Michael up.

They watched nervously as the man turned the corner.

"He'll see you" whispered Gavin pulling him closer, they were pressed up against each other but hidden from view.

five minutes passed in excited silence before they separated, deciding it was safe.

"That was great" Gavin said

"Yeah, yeah it was"

Michael stared into Gavin's eyes for a while, he felt a strange urge to kiss him and leaned closer, he suddenly realised what was happening and panicked and jumped out of the tunnel.

"I...I better get home, it's probably late"

"I'll walk y-"

"No, thanks Gav but you should get back too"

Micheal left promptly putting his hand to his mouth and cursing at himself "No you didn't want to kiss him that was...that was something else" at this point he was blushing a deep red.

* * *

 

Gavin had a smile on his face that none could counter, "he called me Gav, He called me Gav!" he waved the Flag in the air and ran all the way home.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was really hard to write and I don't really like how it turned out but hey what can you do

That night when Michael got home he went straight upstairs, took off his shoes and trousers, flopped down onto his bed, and curled up in his blankets. his mind was in disarray.

He spent hours lying awake tossing and turning in futile attempt to fall asleep, he was frustratedly thinking of Gavin, he was confused, he didn't know what to do or how to feel, his mind kept going to Lindsay's face and every time this happened he felt guilt build up in the pit of his stomach, she was his best friend, his  _girlfriend_ and it felt like he was cheating on her.

what Michael felt when he was with Gavin made him re-think what he felt about Lindsay, he always assumed that this was how it was supposed to be, this was how  _he_  was supposed to be, now he knew that he didn't feel anything romantic towards her and it made him feel like shit.

But still he denied it, he wasn't... he couldn't be.

"Gavin's a dude" he said to himself "and you don't like him"

Michael buried his head in his pillow and decided to do the same with his feelings, he was going to avoid Gavin, even if it meant quitting his job, he fell asleep thankful that he didn't have to work and therefore he wouldn't see Gavin for the rest of the weekend.

That Monday was a different story. Michael's day started as it always did, silent breakfast with his dad, boring car ride in which josh would point out his faults and inform him once again not to talk to his friends, but one thing was different, this time when he saw Ray, Lindsay and Gavin laughing near his locker he didn't talk to them, instead he went to class without books.

He didn't have classes with any of his them until after lunch, which he spent by himself, the only problem he had with this is that his mind would wander and he'd think of them, It hasn't even been a day he kept saying.

The next class he had was English with Ray.

"hey" he said slipping in beside ray whose head was already on the desk.

"Holy shit!, where'd you come from?, I thought you were out, you come in late?"

"Nah"

"Well, where were you?"

"I've been around"

"Why didn't you come over to us at lunch?"

"Reasons"

Ray sighed, he knew he wasn't getting anywhere and he was definitely not going to put in this much effort if Michael wasn't willing to speak, he lowered his head back onto the desk.

Michael felt bad about giving ray attitude but if he didn't want to talk he wasn't going to.

At the end of the day when Ray invited him over Michael firmly refused and bolted when he saw Gavin turning the corner, it almost broke his heart to see the lopsided grin appear on Gavin's face.

He managed to go through almost a whole week without sight nor sound of Gavin, though it was not spent without doubts he always wanted to go and talk to them, to join in. Countless times he'd asked himself was all this worth it?.

On the way out of school that Friday, Gavin materialised at his side and said "I didn't see you once this week"

"strange, I was here" Michael said without making eye contact, just having him at his side made him realise how much he had missed his presence.

"Are you going to Ray's today?, you haven't been since last Friday"

Michael replied with a curt "No"

"Why?, you usually come"

"None of your business"

Gavin followed Michael into the parking lot "What's wrong?" he said putting a hand on his shoulder.

Michael pushed it off roughly and said "Don't touch me" he sped up, away from Gavin.

* * *

Gavin's face screwed up, he felt as if he were about to cry, what had he done? everything was OK Last Friday, Michael was obviously avoiding him, he wasn't  _that_  stupid, but Gavin was confused as to why.

Ray caught up to Gavin, after witnessing what happened and said "Ignore him, he's been in a mood this week"

"I don't understand"

"Neither do I"

"I'm going after him"

"don't"

"I have to"

"Gavin, listen to me, if he doesn't want to talk then he won't, period"*

Gavin shook his head and started to run in the direction Michael had gone "I have to" he said

Ray shrugged "No-one ever listens to me"

It wasn't long before he spotted the red-head in the distance and Called his name.

* * *

"Michael!"

"Oh god" Michael thought, he knew it was Gavin who else could it be, He kept his eyes forward ignoring him and hoped he would take the hint.

"Michael!"

He didn't.

"Michael!"

He flipped around when Gavin was an arm's length away and Shouted "What!"

Gavin stumbled backwards, repelled by his outburst. "Why are you avoiding me?"

Michael groaned and tilted his head back "Fuck off"

"No!, What did I do?" Gavin himself getting irritated.

Michael couldn't exactly tell him what was going on, what could he say to him? "your stupid British Gavin-ness is making me question my sexuality" not likely.

"leave me alone" Michael began to turn around but was stopped when Gavin placed his hands firmly on Michael's shoulders and pushed him against a wall.

"What did I do?" blood rushed to Michael's face, both in anger and embarrassment , the sudden eye contact with Gavin made it even worse.

"You make me feel weird" he spat

"What?" Gavin was shocked, he didn't know what to make of that.

Michael took a deep breath and thought for a moment, maybe avoiding him wasn't the best Idea, he couldn't exactly stay away from them all, it wasn't practical, he needed his job and he liked his friends.

"I don't know, I can't really explain...I'm OK now, promise" he smiled, unaware that this made Gavin's heart flutter.

Gavin dropped his hands at his side "I really have no clue what you're on about, but alright"

Michael felt relieved, he didn't want to be alone, just having a taster of what it'd be like without his friends made him feel grateful he had them and a little foolish for making that decision in the first place.

"Coming to Ray's then?"

Michael laughed lightly and shook his head "You don't give up do you"

"So?"

"Yeah, I'll go"

Gavin pumped his fist in the air and said "Yes!"

They headed off towards Ray's house, Michael was excited and worried, he wanted to go and be with everyone but what would he do next?, if he couldn't avoid his problems he'd have to face them and he had no idea how the hell he was going to do that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * it pained me to type "period" instead of "full stop" but they're american, gotta be accurate


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a mix for this one http://8tracks.com/team-nice-dynamite/bevvy-bois

"Are you going to James' party tomorrow?" Ray asked

"Yeah, can't wait, his parties are the shit" Lindsay replied

"I'll go, where is it?" Gavin asked, his eyes lighting up at the prospect of going to an american party, with those red cups!

"We'll go together and meet up here first"

Michael didn't want to go, it wasn't that he disliked parties or anything it was just that he had a lot on his mind and he hated the thought of bringing down everyone with his current melancholy state, but he didn't want to disappoint them by not going either, it was all quite frustrating.

"Michael?"

he snapped out of his trance and looked at Ray "what?"

"You going?"

"Yes" his answer was sudden, he surprised himself, apparently his subconscious wanted him to go.

"alright, so half eight we meet here and then go, k?"

"yeah"

They left shortly after this conversation and Michael spent his Friday night at home the same way he'd done with the last; awake. he knew it now, that he liked Gavin romantically maybe even sexually, he wanted to hug him, kiss him, touch him, laugh with him,  _be_  with him, But if he liked Gavin then that meant he was-

"Gay"

Michael whispered it , he felt like saying it would help him come to terms with it, he said it aloud again "gay" and sighed, he was worried about what his dad would do or say to him, Michael knew that he wouldn't like this, in fact, he'd hate it. He was extremely backwards and set in his ways, homophobic and even a little racist.

The worst thing about this realisation was not about his dad it was that he'd have to break up with Lindsay, he certainly loved her, but like a sister not a lover. Countless times he considered keeping this a secret and stay dating Lindsay however Michael thought that it'd be cruel to lead her on when nothing would happen. He would tell her as soon as possible, he had to in respect of what she meant to him. he was still anxious though what will she say? how will she react? will it hurt her?. he  _would_  tell her, Tomorrow after the party.

* * *

The party came all to soon for Michael's liking, he didn't want to go and the closer he got to ray's house the more he regretted his decision.

He knocked on the wood door and Ray appeared a moment later "he's here!" Ray shouted up the stairs "Let's go"

"Already?"

"Yeah, problem?"

"Nope"

A few seconds later Lindsay and Gavin came outside and Michael felt the world slow down for a moment when he saw Gavin, for some reason he looked different, maybe it was his hair or his tight shirt, whatever it was he looked hot.

Michael gulped and said "Hey gav- guys"

"Hey Michael"

The walk to James' house only took a quarter of an hour and they could hear the music coming from the house when they were at end of the street they got to the door, ray knocked and James answered "I thought you guys'd never show up, come on in, beers in the kitchen, Ray there's soda in the fridge"

"thanks bro"

The living room was already a writhing mass of sweaty, hormone-filled teenagers who were grinding, drinking and singing very badly. they avoided the plethora of people and headed for the kitchen.

"Lets get bevved Michael"

"What the fuck?"

Lindsay laughed "I think he means get drunk"

"Well don't forget we have to work tomorrow, so don't go too hard"

They started with one cup each but as the night went on they drank more and more, it was the natural flow if things, get a buzz have fun and drink, except for Ray who, even though he didn't drink, could always keep up with the pace.

At first Michael stood back and did the usual lean against the wall and watch thing but it wasn't long before Lindsay dragged him away and he soon forgot all his worries and danced his ass off, he was like a ball of energy , barely stopping the whole night through, until James announced it was time for spin the bottle, Michael was hesitant but Lindsay was eager so they went and sat in a circle, boy girl boy girl as per usual.

James was the first one to spin and with the flick of a wrist it flicked around the circle and landed on a dark-haired boy Michael didn't know, who was not in the least bit pleased with this arrangement but James' version of the rules meant they had to kiss so he leaned over and gave him a small peck, James passed him the bottle and said "better get yourself a girl now, Marchant"

Michael was already disinterested at this point, that was until a blonde-haired girl, Marcy?, spun and it landed on Gavin, that certainly piqued his interest and jealousy burned inside him, he clenched his fist as they got closer, but didn't look away when their lips met, every little cheer the others supplied became a knife in his heart, it was Gavin's turn to spin next and there was no way he was going to endure  _that_  twice.

He moved closer to Lindsay and whispered "can we go now?"

She either ignored him or didn't hear because she didn't even glance towards him.

"Lindsay" He said, a little louder this time.

"Lindsay is right" James said, the bottle had landed pointing at her.

"No.." Michael said inaudibly

He sat back and watched every second, silently horrified his eyes widening further each moment they moved closer, it was his best friend and his Gavin, this wasn't supposed to happen. ever.

They parted and Gavin looked at Michael mouthing "sorry", that's right Lindsay was his girlfriend. Michael nodded weakly and looked down, he'd had just about enough.

"Can we go now, Linds"

"I have to spin first, rules are rules"

Oh god, it couldn't be worse he'd have to see her kiss some asshole now. the bottle ended its action on himself, Michael was relieved he was the chosen asshole and he gave her a small kiss and got up ready to leave, only to hear protesting.

"You have to spin now"

"Fuck that i'm going"

"Spin! Spin! spin!" they chanted

He sighed deeply, peer pressure had got him again, he reached for the bottle receiving yells from the small crowd.

He spun it, dreading the outcome and prayed for a miracle while it slowed to a halt, In front of none other than Josh Matthews.


	6. Chapter 6

Michael felt sick, he was fed up with this whole night. Everything that could have gone wrong did, he disliked Josh with a burning passion and the thought of kissing him was certainly not a welcoming one but he wasn't going to complain about it, he just wanted it over and done with, but by the look of pure disgust developing on Josh's face, Michael could tell he was going to put up a fight.

Josh stood up and said "Not a fucking chance Wilson"

"If you sit in the circle you gotta play by its rules" James replied smiling

"There's no way I'm kissing a dude, especially  _him_ " said josh jabbing his finger towards Michael "even for a second"

"Well, I kissed a guy and I lived, right Aleks?" James said

"Right!"

"Shut it Marchant"

"Just fucking do it man, who the hell cares?" Michael said

"You wanna kiss me that much Jones, you gay for me?"

Michael rolled his eyes and muttered"You wish" but before Josh could retaliate James jumped up and placed an arm around Josh and said quietly "Listen Josh, after you do this you can spin and probably kiss Hannah or Melanie or whoever, you'd like that right?"

Josh's eyebrows were furrowed, like he was considering the odds, he apparently liked his chances as he was smiling and nodding at this point. Josh lifted James' hand off and faced Michael

"C'mere Jones" he said with a wide grin.

The circle of teens shouted excitedly as Michael stood up, Josh put a hand On Michael's shoulder and leaned down and pressed his mouth roughly against Michael's and pulled away swiftly, pushing him away in the process, Michael stumbled backwards and fell into Lindsay.

Josh wiped his hand over his mouth and said "Get ready girls, my turn"

"Lets go"Michael said, reaching for Lindsay's hand and turning towards the door, they pushed through the people surrounding the exit and left the hotness of the house and felt the cool night breeze on their faces.

Once they had gotten to the end of the driveway Lindsay began to speak "So, are we going home?"

He thought about it, going home sounded nice, after all that had happened it seemed as though his bed was calling for him, the sweet release of being unconscious and away from the world for a couple hours, it was all too tempting to just go home but he had promised himself to tell her today.

"Michael?" she sounded concerned

He shook his head "No" he said softly "not yet" he led her into a nearby alleyway, deciding that this was a good a place as any and sat down, Lindsay joined him on the ground, a slightly bemused look on her face.

"Are you ok?"

Michael nodded slowly, not looking in her eyes "I have something to tell you, that's all, I just don't know how to say it.."

He felt the nervousness begin to sink in, again worrying what she would say or how she'd react, he began to sweat and his hands started to shake, he held them tightly together, hoping somehow this would give him courage.

Lindsay noticed this and put her hand on his "It's ok, whatever it is you can tell me"

He looked into her eyes and felt a wave of trust and sincerity from her, it was warm and comforting and gave him courage.

"I'm..." he paused and took a deep breath, Lindsay nodded in encouragement "I'm Gay" he whispered it, so quietly that she didn't hear him.

"I can't hear you"

"I'm gay" he said it loudly, his voice cracking halfway through

"Thank you" she hugged him

"What?" Michael was confused, out of all the ways someone could react, she reacted by _thanking_  him?

She leaned back and looked at him "for telling me, it was very brave to come out"

Michael smiled at her and felt relieved to tell someone his secret.

"I kind of knew though"

"What?, how?"

"Well intuition and do you know how many times we've made out since we got together?"

Michael shook his head, feeling guilty and said "Not much anyway"

"Twice, we've been together for six months and I'm some fine piece of woman" Lindsay laughed and stared off into the distance "and the way you look at Gavin, its pretty obvious you'd attack him with your mouth"

Michael blushed and opened his mouth to argue but promptly closed it again, deciding that whatever he was going to say about not liking Gavin would be a lie and there's no way she'd believe it, instead he went with a simple "Shut up"

Michael got to his feet and wiped his hands on his pants, Lindsay joined him a moment later, they walked up the road, the orange glow of the street lamps lighting their way.

"Home?" said Lindsay

"Home" Michael replied, they walked in a comfortable silence before Lindsay's curiosity got the better of her and she spoke.

"Who else knows?"

"Only you"

"Really?" she seemed surprised

"Yeah, I figured it was most important to tell you"

"I guess this means we're over then, huh" Lindsay said as they arrived at her house.

"Yes, I'm sorry Lindsay I-"

"No Michael, don't, it's not your fault" she smiled, waved goodbye and disappeared inside.

He stared at her house for a good five minutes before he left, heading home.

* * *

Lindsay already knew deep down that he was gay when he'd told her but the reality of it only hit her when she got to her room and collapsed onto her bed, she was upset, she did like Michael and  _was_  straight, but no amount of affection from her could change the fact he liked someone else. In truth the happiness she felt from knowing Michael trusted her, he had told her first!, almost outweighed any sadness she felt. Almost.


	7. Chapter 7

The previous night Michael slept better than he had done since Gavin had arrived in Austin, the feeling of guilt had left him and although he woke up slightly hung-over his mind felt at ease for now.

Michael spent his day playing resident evil in his stuffy room (curtains closed to prevent screen glare), food and drink by within arms reach and was only interrupted when his Phone began to ring.

"Hello?"

"Michael?, Its Geoff I need you to come in early, its busy as Dicks out here, there was an event or something today, can you make it?"

Michael avoided the front entrance it was surrounded by people, he'd never seen it this busy. He went through the dirty back alley and in the back door to the kitchen and was immediately greeted by geoff.

"Hey, how was last night?" geoff was cooking furiously he had a serious look on his face and beads of sweat were collecting on his forehead.

Michael stalled before answering reminiscing, the first half had been pretty awful but the second had certainly gone his way. "It was OK" he concluded

Geoff continued with his work "I need you up front pronto, Gavin hasn't shown, Cecily is out sick, Lindsay's here" he nodded his head towards where she was chopping vegetables "and the most of the others are already out there"

"And Ray?"

"I tried calling him but no answer"

"I'll be right back"

Michael went to the changing room, got into his work clothes and went out appeared two hours after Michael and apologised multiple times to Geoff for having his phone off before joining Michael . Gavin continued to be a no-show. That day went on to be the hardest he'd ever worked, the flow of customers did not cease, as soon as a table was cleared it was filled again, eventually Michael ended up in the same state that Geoff was in sweating and serious.

Geoff decided to close early, at seven thirty when the customers stopped coming in and said they could leave after they helped clean up and also promised to pay overtime.

Michael went into the kitchen where Lindsay was washing dishes.

"need any help?"

"Yeah, you can dry" she passed him a towel. He studied her face, her eyes were slightly pink and puffy, she had been crying. Michael was about to ask her was she OK when he realised that she had tried to cover it with make-up and decided it would probably be embarrassing, maybe even insulting, to let on that he knew so he ignored it.

Michael tried hard to make her laugh and see her smile, but all he got was TV courtesy smiles and fake laughter.

Michael gave up and headed to the changing room saying a quick goodbye to Lindsay, but before he could even close the door he heard Ray say "Are you okay Lindsay, you seemed a Little put out today" he didn't stay to listen and went on to change.

* * *

Ray looked at Lindsay and watched a tear slide down her cheek, she put her head to the side, obviously hoping he hadn't seen, and wiped it away. he waited for an answer.

"No" she said calmly

"I thought so, what happened?"

"We broke up"

"You and Michael!?" ray was surprised beyond belief, what could have happened? they were the perfect couple!.

Her face screwed up and she whispered "yes"

"Was it him or you?"

"Both I guess, more him than me though"

"Why?" Ray was confused and angry more than he had ever been in a long time, it took a lot to anger Ray but this definitely did it.

"I can't tell you, I'm not allowed" she took a deep breath "Ask Michael"

Ray frowned "I will" and headed to

* * *

Michael had just finished changing when ray walked in and if looks could kill Michael would have died the moment their eyes met.

"Can we talk?" he was polite but also demanding

"uuh sure"

Ray glanced at the third boy in the room and then said "Outside"

Michael followed ray outside dreading what was about to come, they went through the back, Lindsay had gone home and was no longer occupying the kitchen, and into the street.

The evening was dark as clouds blocked the sunset and rain looked like a likely outcome.

"I'm gonna get straight to the point, why'd you break up with her?"

Michael sighed, he didn't want to come out two days in a row "look, Ray, I don't really want to talk about it right now"

Michael discovered that this was the wrong thing to say a moment later when Ray snapped, he pushed him roughly, his fists were clenched and he was moving towards Michael but he stopped, stood back and said "I really don't know what the fuck you're talking about but you better tell me soon or I'll get angry, OK?"

"Ok" Rays outburst had scared him slightly he never cared enough to get angry this was obviously important to him " I'll tell you but before I do I want you to know, that I do like Lindsay, love her even, but in a platonic brotherly way-"

"Get to the point"

"Alright" He paused, if he'd done it once he could do it again, he mustered up all his courage and said "I broke up with her because I'm gay, Ray"

"Oh" Ray blushed "I'm sorry for being angry"

"Nah, It's fine, I'd do the same for her"

Ray spread his arms "Come here bro" Michael laughed and hugged ray, a second later he heard footsteps, running, and Gavin appeared around the corner.

"Where's Geoff?" his hair was disheveled and he was wearing the same clothes he had worn yesterday, stains and all. There were dark circles under his eyes and his skin had a green tinge.

Ray and Michael parted and stared at Gavin "Where the hell were you?"

"I drank waaay too much, I was asleep all day" He put a hand on the wall and leaned on it heavily

"Are you ok dude?" asked Ray

The question was not answered by words but by Gavin throwing up all over the wall, his clothes and the tarmac the sound was awful he coughed and spluttered and once he'd stopped he said " I shouldn't have run all the way here" weakly before collapsing on the ground.

they rushed over, each getting one of Gavin's arms over their shoulders and half dragged half carried him inside, they sat him on a chair and ray went to get Geoff.

"Why'd you bother coming here"

He shook his head "I don't know"

"You've got" Michael pointed at his chin "A little... around your"He pulled out a tissue from his pocket "here" he said wiping Gavin's mouth clean

"Thanks"

"Anytime"

Geoff burst in, a worried look on his face and said "You're an Idiot"

Gavin lifted his head slowly and replied "I know and I'm sorry, I messed up, I won't be late again, promise"

"I don't care Gavin, next time just stay at home when you're hung over" He knelt next to Michael and examined Gavin, gently touching the back of his hand to his forehead "I think you've got a bug too, buddy, Ray will you get some water?"

Ray retrieved a cup from one of the cupboards filled it with water and handed it to Geoff, who made Gavin take sips from the cup.

"Any of have extra clothes?"

"I do"Micheal said

" I have to close up the restaurant"

"I'll help" Ray said

"me too"

"Michael, Will you help him get changed?"

he stood up abruptly and stepped back.

Geoff frowned "You can do that for me right?"

"Yeah..Yeah!"

He grabbed Gavin and hauled him up, he was drowsy and weak but light so it was easy for Michael to get him into the changing room, he helped him onto the bench and opened his locker, took out his extra clothes and sat beside Gavin. "can you stand?"

"I hope so" he said and shakily got to his feet, he flopped back down and shook his head "No" He looked at his top, retched and covered his nose.

"Can you...uh help me?"

"What...what do you want me to do?"

He lifted his hands vertically into the air, said "Undress me" and laughed quietly.

Michael reached over and pulled his top over his head slowly, careful not to rub any of the vomit onto him. Michael felt his heart beat faster at the sight of his bare chest, he averted his gaze and His face reddened. He put the shirt aside and helped Gavin put on the new one.

Gavin fumbled at the button on his trousers to no avail "Will you get that for me?, I'll do the rest it's just-"

"It's fine, gav." more blood rushed to Micheal's face as he undid Gavin's jeans, his thoughts running wild. he passed Gavin his replacement jeans and turned around.

It took him over two minutes to change but he did it and sat down again.

"Thank you" Gavin smiled

"You're welcome"

"Can I lean on you?, for a little bit, I'm tired" he looked it too.

"Sure" he moved closer and Gavin rested his head on Micheal's shoulder, his heart was going crazy.

They sat there in silence for what felt like an hour until Geoff walked in, he laughed at the scene before him.

"He's asleep! aww," Geoff got a handful of one of his cheeks

Geoff Laid Gavin on the bench and looked at Michael "I'll drive you home "

"No thanks, I want to walk" in truth he wanted to clear his mind and calm down before he had a real heart attack.

"Alright, see you next time then"

"Need any help with him"

"Nah you've done enough"

Michael left breathing in the night air deeply, his mind flickering to Gavin, damn that boy had a body and he wouldn't soon forget it.


	8. Chapter 8

Michael sat on his bed wasting his Sunday evening staring at the ceiling meaninglessly, his thoughts were focused on Gavin and he had a desire to talk to him so reached for his phone that lay adjacent to him and texted geoff.

_M: hey, do u have Gavin's no.?_

_G: why_

_M: I wanna ask him something_

_G: just checking.. its xxx-xxx-xxx_

_M: thanks_

He saved the number onto his phone and stared at the digits for a long time before typing a message

_M: hey, Its Michael, I wanted to know if u were OK?_

he held down the backspace button muttering "No" he tried again, several times in fact, before he decided on a simple message

_M: Hi, Michael here, how r u?_

His thumb hovered over the send button for an moment then he jabbed it and a wave of nervousness flowed through him causing him to throw his phone aside and immediately regret his decision to even ask for the number, but a few seconds later Michael heard his ringtone signaling a reply. He leapt up and grabbed his phone, unlocking it clumsily.

_G: I'll live but I stopped throwing up everywhere_

_M: hope u get better soon_

_G: me too, whatcha doin?_

The conversation really started there and lasted a great deal longer than either of the boys would have expected. the sun set and stars shone and they continued to talk.

_M: u coming in tomorrow?_

_G: yeah see u ;) night_

_M: Night_

Michael spread his limbs across his bed am smiled, at this moment he was happy, in a world of bliss that couldn't be ruined by anything.

The next morning started relatively well for Michael he woke up happy and had slept well and was actually looking forward to school for once but when josh arrived at his house he could tell that something was different. firstly because he didn't instantly insult him and secondly he had a strange look on his face, a look that Michael could only describe as the cat-that-got-the-milk look.

Micheal sat in the car hoping against all hope that the look on his face had nothing to do with him. eventually the silence was smashed, obliterated, by a single simple word.

"Faggot" Josh said

Michael jumped, he turned swiftly Facing josh, he didn't know that words could strike fear into a persons heart but that word coming from that person couldn't mean anything good.

"What?" he said, his voice wobbling

"You heard me" Josh smirked and glanced evilly at Michael "I left the party early on Friday, after I spun another guy, and i heard you say some  _very_  interesting things to your girl- ex girlfriend now I assume"

"How much did you-"

"I listened until you left" Josh laughed "Would you?, attack him with your mouth that is"

Michael blushed and clenched his fist, gritted his teeth and said "Fuck off"

"I don't think that's smart of you, to get on my bad side"

"Why? what can  _you_  do"

"I could tell Gavin about your little secret, fag"

Michael ignored the slur and said "And you think he'd believe you? "

Josh scowled , unsatisfied with Michael's reaction and he thought for a while then said again smiling "I know someone who would believe me"

"yeah and who the fuck's that?"

"Your dad" He grinned, a grin of someone who knew they had the upper hand.

Micheal sighed, he'd gotten him, the son of a bitch got him, he didn't want him to tell anyone but telling his dad?, that would  _not_  turn out well for him and he didn't intend to tell him , not yet anyway, maybe not ever "Why are you such a jackass josh?, like I don't even understand" Josh shrugged, taking the insult as a compliment."What do you want?"

"How do you know that I want anything"

Michael rolled his eyes and said "I'm  _gay_  not  _stupid_ "

Josh laughed "Alright, well I spent the entire weekend thinking of shit I could make you do but I went with something old fashioned, I want you to do my homework and its gotta be good, coach wants my grades up"

Michael groaned "Really?"

"of course"

Michael considered the pros and cons of this deal and decided he definitely did not want his dad knowing "Okay, I do this and you don't tell anyone, not your friends, not Gavin and especially not my dad, promise?"

"promise" he offered his right hand to Michael, his left clutching the wheel, Michael accepted it and they shook hands, Josh smiling smugly all the while.

They pulled into josh's preferred parking spot and parted ways, Michael was frustrated he already had more than enough work and knowing he'd have another pile of assignments to do didn't sound pleasant.

"Michael!" It was Gavin, a smile spread across Michael's face

"Gavin"

"I'm better, I can walk again!" he said excitedly

"Dude, you weren't crippled, just sick"

"ayy, Gavin you didn't die" Ray said walking up the hallway along with Lindsay.

"He was in danger?" asked Lindsay, raising an eyebrow

"Not really, I had a bug"

the bell went and they headed to class and the rest of the day was normal except when that day ended instead of finding Gavin Michael went in search of Josh and found him quite Quickly because Josh and his friends were surrounded by half the school's population of girls who were twirling their hair and batting their eyelids.

"Josh" he called, but no-one acknowledged him so he repeated himself.

"Josh" again he was ignored.

"Josh" this time a blonde haired girl turned around and narrowed her eyes at him and said "what do you want?"

"I want to speak to Josh, thanks"

She rolled her big blue eyes and caught josh's attention with no more than a look and pointed at Michael "he wants you"

"in more ways than one" josh said prompting laughter from the gaggle of girls, he exited the group and headed towards Michael.

"What do you want"

"Don't be a dick josh, give me you're homework"

"Ooh so demanding, watch your tone by the way" they walked down the corridor and stopped at his locker soon enough there was a five book high pile in his arms topped by a list of what the assignments were and their due dates.

"Give these back before the deadlines and be back here tomorrow same time" he didn't wait for any response and left.

on the way way out of school he ran into Gavin who, within a minute, noticed josh's name plastered on the cover of the books and asked "what are you doing with josh's books?"

he considered the truth for about a millisecond but said "I owe him a favour so i'm doing his work for awhile"

"What for?"

Michael paused, considering the situation and answered "Its part of a deal"  _that'll shut him up_  thought Michael

he thought wrong "What deal?"

"Oh god, will you shut up It's none of your fucking business ok?"

"Ok Michael, sorry"

"It's fine" Michael felt bad about being harsh towards Gavin but he couldn't think up an excuse for everything, fortunately it only took a moment for Gavin to bounce back from the hit.

"Are you coming to ray's today?"

"Nah" he shook the pile books in his arms "I've got a little extra work to do"

"Alright, text you later boy"

Boy? he was his boy now?, well at least one good thing had come out of a shitty day, no matter how small it was.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its late, RTX streams!!

Michael rubbed his eyes lazily and looked at the clock, it glowed 2:36 am he groaned, Josh had left an essay he'd had for over a month until the last minute which in the end had worked out for him and not for Michael.

it was a long one at a minimum of 6,000 words. Michael had written 3,874 of these and was running out of things to bullshit. He slammed his fist an the desk and cursed, it was as if Josh had planned to find out Michael was gay it was certainly working out the well for him.

Michael heard a knock on his door, he turned around and called "Who is it?"

"Your mom, honey" she said gently as she entered the room "What are you still doing up?, you have school tomorrow"

"I know, I have to finish this essay" he said, gesturing towards the papers on his desk.

"Why didn't you do it sooner?"

"It's complicated"

 _"Michael"_ she said sternly

"Sorry mom, I'll do it sooner next time ok?"

"Alright, don't stay up too late, you're a growing boy and you need your rest"

"Night, mom"

"Goodnight, sleep tight and so on"

Michael drew in a deep breath and went back to the essay. He scribbled on the paper, spewing utter crap, repeating himself multiple times using different words and phrases throughout the next two hours, his handwriting grew steadily more sloppy and incoherent. Eventually he started to drift off, his eyes drooping and his head almost being dragged onto the table, but he pulled through and as soon as he'd painstakingly written the 6,000th word he let his head fall onto the hardwood desk and fell asleep instantly.

After what felt like two minutes his alarm beeped and his eyes opened slowly he had to force himself with all his might to stand up and as soon as that was done he felt a pain in his neck, he had slept with in a bad position, he rubbed his hand on the effected area "Fuck"he turned off his alarm and stormed downstairs.

"Hey mom, Do we have any coffee?"

She walked in from the living room saying "I Just made some but- Jeez, Michael, how late did you stay up?, you look awful"

"I don't know, pretty late I guess, coffee?"

"Here, take this it was for me but you can have it, its fresh"

"Thanks" he took the cup from her hand and gulped the bitter brown liquid, He felt the warmth slide into his stomach and he would swear that he could already feel his energy coming back.

He collected his books, changed his clothes and stood outside in the morning cold waiting for Josh while gripping the damned essay in his fist. Josh appeared ten minutes later. Michael got into the car and handed Josh the essay, not wanting to look at any longer than he had to. Josh read the first few paragraphs and nodded.

"Nice work although I already had most of it done, you didn't have to re-do it" he said with mock sweetness

"What are you talking about?, you just gave me the assignment and deadline, that was it!"

"oh, I must've left it in my locker, sucks for you" he smiled widely, obviously he had planned this whole thing and he was reveling in the results.

"You fucking asshole, do you know how fucking late I stayed up to finish that for you?"

"No, and I don't care either"

Michael felt rage build up inside him and gripped the leather material on his seat and said nothing, it wasn't worth the fight.

As soon as the car stopped Michael burst out of the door and practically ran inside, he needed to get away from him or he was going to hit that motherfucker right in his fucking smug bitch ass face.

He went to his locker and shoved his books violently into his bag and slammed the door with an impressive crash.

"Whoa whats got you riled up"

Michael looked up at Ray and said "Fucking josh"

Ray wiggled his eyebrows "ooh you fucked him"

Michael glared at ray and walked in the opposite direction.

"I was Joking, Michael, hey" Ray Patted Him on the back gently "Lighten up"

Michael's face softened, Ray meant well, sometimes he just chose the wrong moment to say things "Sorry Ray, late night"

"Yeah you look like shit"

"Thanks"

"You're welcome"

Gavin joined them and immediately noticed the bags under Michael's eyes

"You OK Michael?, you look terrible"

"Uh huh"

"He stayed up late do- actually, what  _were_  you doing?"

"Finishing Jo- my English essay"

"But you've had that done for weeks, you bragged about it and everything"

"I uh, lost it"

Ray shook his head "You're stupid"

"Yeah, kinda"

The bell sounded and they collectively sighed.

Rays eyes widened "Shit, I'm on the other side of school" he turned and ran, Ray was always late and another slip meant detention which never went well at home.

"Who's stupid now!" Michael shouted after him

"Shut up asshole" he called back

"Chemistry"

Gavin nodded "Chemistry"

* * *

Michael waited at Josh's locker at the end of the day, not wanting a repeat of the awkwardness he'd experienced the previous day.

"Here for my books gay-boy?"

Michael looked swiftly side to side, checking if anyone had heard when he concluded they hadn't he turned back to Josh "Could you keep it down, we have a fucking deal you know"

"Chill, bro" He got a pile out of his locker and handed it to Michael "there's another essay for you there"

"Really?, another one, what do you even you do with your time-"

"I'm kidding Jones calm yourself"

"You're a dick"

"and you suck dick"

Micheal sighed "Clever" he said sarcastically and he left and headed home he didn't want to talk to anyone right now all he needed was a bit of sleep, when he was halfway home he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, he unlocked it and the notification read  _Gavin._

_G: Rays?_

Michael considered it but the likeliness that he'd even make it to ray's and still be awake wasn't good.

_M: not today, i need sleep_

_G: ok, have sweet dreams boi :p_

_M: will do_

Micheal tucked his phone back into his pocket , he smiled and thought  _they will be sweet if I dream of you_ and then he took a breath and laughed "That was really fucking gay"


	10. Chapter 10

It had been over four weeks since Michael's agreement with Josh had begun and it was starting to take its toll on him. He was always tired and very often irritable, he spent less and less time with his friends, only going to Rays twice over the past weeks, he had even skipped out on work once. The others had noticed the change and were concerned but every time they'd ask he would brush the question off or change the subject.

Michael thought that them caring about him was a little annoying, for the reason that he _couldn't_  tell them what was going on because if he did they'd probably try to convince him to tell his father himself and he wasn't going to do that.

"Michael, get down here!" Michael groaned, it was his dad's voice.

he ran downstairs and into the kitchen where his father was sitting at the table "We're having the Matthews over for dinner tonight so you're going to have to dress up ok, so no dirty t-shirts you know."

"The Matthews?, you mean Josh?" he said this hoping against hope that his dad knew another family of Matthews that he wasn't aware of.

"Of course that's who I mean don't be an idiot"

Michael nodded and left the room, trying not to show his dread. he grabbed his bag and went outside, he was under enough pressure and he didn't feel like socialising with a whole family of people he didn't like.

Josh pulled up and Michael got in the car.

"Here's your math homework, but i'm gonna need another night or two for that essay"

"Whatever, I'm looking forward to meeting your dad by the way"

"Don't get any Ideas, we have a deal, do I have to remind you every day?"

"You need some sleep you're cranky as fuck"

He sighed, there was no reasoning with an idiot.

* * *

Michael searched for his books in his locker, he couldn't seem to remember which class he had, though he knew he had checked multiple times.

"hey Michael"

"Hi Ray"

"What're you doing?"

"uhh, getting my books?"

"Why, we don't have classes today"

"What?" he was confused, he couldn't recall any information about this whatsoever

"We've got a talk today, about homophobia, remember"*

"No"

"how did you forget!, they've been reminding us for weeks about this shit"

Michael shrugged bewildered by his own stupidity "a lot on my mind I guess"

"alright well lets go get good seats"

Lindsay and Gavin joined them on their way there and ray told them the story of Michael forgetfulness, which Michael took no notice of.

they sat down Michael on the edge next to Gavin who talked to him non-stop despite Michael's lack of response or acknowledgement of what he was saying. he stopped only when the lights were darkened and a tall blonde woman walked onto stage, ready to give her day-long presentation. Michael was asleep before the projector was even turned on.

he was awoken at both lunches by Gavin who would shake him rather violently which annoyed Michael.

In the last leg of the seminar, unbeknownst to Michael, his head slid down the chair and onto Gavin's shoulder, Gavin blushed at the contact but didn't try to shift him or move him away, on the contrary he was glad of the contact and wished they could stay that way for longer .

This time when Gavin woke Michael up, instead of being annoyed he was embarrassed "Sorry, I didn't mean to..."He pointed at his shoulder"sorry"

Gavin laughed "It's fine"

* * *

Michael was dressed up in a shirt and pant's that his mom had laid out for him, he was sitting up straight but keeping his eyes on he table, trying his very best not to take part in the conversations that were going on.

he ignored most of what they said and ate silently, part of him wanted to argue with their statements as most of them were extremely offensive and just plain wrong, but he decided against that as this was his fathers boss after all.

"Josh's grade have been skyrocketing over the past few weeks" Josh's mother said

"Michael's have done the opposite" His mom said

"We had the most interesting seminar today dad" Josh said

"oh, what about"

"Gay's, but, I wanted to know your opinion"

"Well, son, as you know i'm a very religious man" Michael could tell that this wasn't going to be good " I think that it's wrong, sickening really"

Michael could feel josh's eyes on him, willing him to react.

Then his father spoke "I agree Jim, it's revolting" Michael gripped his fork his fist slowly turning white. "Did you know some states are legalizing their marriage"

"I heard, but they won't get Texas"

They laughed, Michael felt sick and what made it worse was Josh smiling at him.

"Could you imagine having a queer son, Jim?" josh's dad laughed again "Guess we lucked out huh" he patted Michael on the back.

He stood up abruptly, almost knocking his chair over " Can I be excused"

His dad gave him a look that said sit down but his mother gave him permission.

"Sorry about him, Jim, he seems to be a bit out of it lately"

Michael ran upstairs and grabbed a pillow off his bed which he screamed into, this was breaking point and he didn't know how to handle it, his emotions were running wild he didn't know what he felt, was it anger?, disgust?, disappointment?, sadness?, fear? it was all of them at once, everything he'd beaten down and hidden away was let loose.

He went into his bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror "Idiot " He said " you knew he'd never accept you" he glared at his mirrored self and raised his fist and slammed it into the glass. After a while he sighed and lowered his hand which was dripping in blood, he sat on his bed head in hands.

A few minutes later he heard his door open and josh entered, he was the last person Michael wanted to see right now.

"You enjoy that jones?" he had his signature asshole smile on.

"Get the hell out of my room, dick-bag"

"Calm your tits" His eyebrows creased "Holy shit what's up with your hand"

"Oh this" Michael raised his hand, a few small shards sticking out of his skin "Punched a mirror"

"Why the fuck did you punch a mirror?, You're gonna get blood everywhere"

"Thank you for caring"

Josh fished around in his pocket and retrieved a small white cloth, he offered it to Michael "here"

"Thanks" he held it to the scattering of cuts, the cloth soaked up the blood and quickly turned a shocking red.

Josh sat on Michael's bed, and coughed awkwardly before saying "You know you should take the leftover bits with tweezers before it heals or it's gonna get infected, it happened to me this one time when I got a wood splinter, it was there for like three weeks, I had to go to the hospital and-"

"No offence josh but I don't really give a shit"

He slapped his thighs and blew air through his mouth "Fair enough" he got up, walked over to the door put a hand in his pocket, took out a band aid and threw it at Michael "You're gonna need that"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Yo, I don't know if they do these in america but they do in Ireland so...


	11. Chapter 11

Gavin was sitting in his room on the seat next to the window his head resting against the cool glass. His mind was full of one thing and one thing only, it was Michael, Gavin was worried about him , dammit they all were, He didn't know what to do he didn't know what he  _could_  do. He stared at his phone maybe he'd try texting again.

He picked it up tentatively and found Michael's name easily

_G: u there?_

He waited over ten minutes before there was a reply

_M: ye boi_

_G: what's up_

_M: just finished dinner with the_ _Matthews_

_G: Josh?_

_M: yup_

_G: what happened?_

Again he waited a further ten minutes for a reply

_M: I cnt rly explain but I punched a mirror, its not bad I fixed it up_

_G: whaat?_

_M: I was angry_

_G: whhat happende?_

_M: I said I cant tell u_

_G: Its ok u can tell me anything_

_M: sry Im gonna go_

Gavin began to panicked and hurriedly replie _d_

_G: sorrry, you dont have to tell me_

Gavin waited, ten minuted passed and then an hour passed with no reply, he squeezed his phone tightly letting his frustration out, he threw the object aside angrily, he couldn't seem to do anything right.

"Hey Gavin" He jumped, he hadn't heard Geoff enter the room, he didn't respond but Geoff sat down on his bed anyway.

"What's wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong with me, I'm fine" Geoff raised his eyebrows incredulously

"What?" Gavin said defensively

"I know you pretty well by now and I can tell when you're lying, by the way you're also fucking _terrible_  at it"

"Alright, you don't have to be smart about it" Gavin paused for a moment trying to put his worries into words and then said "Its Michael, I'm worried about him, I asked but he won't tell me anything, he doesn't trust me Geoff and... and it hurts because I trust Him!, I don't know how i can help him if he won't let me" By the end of this passionate rant Gavin had shed some tears "he won't even talk to Ray or Lindsay"

"Did he say he didn't trust you?"

"Not exactly"

"Well maybe he has a good reason for not telling you and the others"

"even if that's true, how are we supposed to help him if he doesn't tell us shit!"

Geoff sighed deeply "listen, if Michael won't change his mind about telling you then you have to help him in other ways, treat him how you would normally, be patient with him when he's angry, maybe try to distract him from his problems, take him out somewhere"

"he won't come out anymore, he's always doing homework"

"Help him with that then"

"ok, I'll try"

Geoff smiled "That's the spirit, don't stress over it Michael's a good kid and he'll soon realise that you are too"

gavin watched Geoff leave and then he began to brainstorm ideas on what he could do for Michael to distract him,his , the idea he liked best was to take him to his favorite place, but where was his favourite place? Gavin hopped up off his seat and retrieved his phone from the floor he pulled up his contacts and selected Ray.

_G: wheres michaels fav place?_

_R: i think its the lake, went there lots last summer y?_

_G: i want to distract him_

_R: we should def go, he'll luv it!_

_G: u think he'll go?_

_R: hell yea man_

_G: awsome i'll ask im, night_

_R: night_

Gavin was excited now, if ray was sure he'd go then it would be perfect, Michael would be his happy self there and they could have fun again.

* * *

Gavin tossed and turned on his bed, he was too excited to fall asleep he wanted to ask Michael now, it was hard for him to contain himself he reached over to his phone and unlocked it, it read 23:34 would Michael still be awake? He couldn't believe he was considering walking to his house, Gavin shook his head he  _was_ going to walk to his house.

He lept up off his bed and pulled his pants on, he pushed his feet into his worn out shoes and sneaked quietly out of the door grabbing his jacket on the way. By the time he had gotten to the front door he had counted three squeaky stairs and a wonky floorboard.

he left the house and he only realised that he didn't actually know where Michael lived until he was half way down the street. "Shit" he muttered, he knew that he had mentioned the street name before, but what was it? he squeezed his eyes closed willing himself to remember.

He opened his eyes having had an epiphany "Rockbridge!"He exclaimed almost jumping in excitement.

he pulled out his phone and brought up Google maps, he searched Rockbridge, Austin, texas and the arrangement of houses popped up immediately, luckily for him there was only a few houses on that street.

It took Gavin longer than he expected to get there because he would convince himself he knew which way to go and close his phone than proceed to get lost and be too stubborn to open it back up, this continued for over half an hour before he decided he was better off keeping it open and following it to a T.

when Gavin had finally reached the street it was almost exactly twelve and he discovered a new problem, he didn't know which house it was.

"Fuck"

* * *

Michael leaned back, resting on his beds headboard.

he looked at Gavin's messages for the fiftieth time, feeling worse every time he did, he could clearly see that Gavin cared but he didn't know if he could trust him with his secret, he hadn't known him that long and he didn't trust people that easily anyway. Michael sighed, he didn't know what to do; he rarely did these days. He felt his hand throb, the bleeding had stopped long ago but the pain certainly hadn't gone with it. he had removed all the glass shards and was a thankful that he didn't punch the mirror harder, it could've been a lot worse.

Michael got out of his bed and walked over to the window, he leaned on the window sill and stared out into the darkness, he got a shock when he saw a figure walking up the street, he peered at his clock 23:58 "Who the hell walks about this late at night "He whispered to himself.

He was about to turn around when suddenly he had a weird feeling that he recognised this person, he squinted and leaned closer, his eyes widened realising who it was "Gavin?" he opened the window wide and leaden out a little "Gavin!" he shouted, the tall boy leaped about a foot in the air upon hearing the voice, then he spotted Michael and smiled widely, relief flooding over him.

Gavin walked up to Michael's house waving "hello!" he said

"What the hell are you doing here?" Michael fumed

His smile faded away "I just wanted to ask you something jeez"

"Why didn't you text me then?"

"Who know's when you'll reply"

Michael felt a pang of guilt "Sorry, wanna come up?"

"You want me to climb up?!"

"No you fucking idiot I'll let you in the back, hold on wait there, I'll come get you" Michael crept through his house, he knew his parents were asleep but he was extra careful nonetheless. He opened the door and found the Brit and instructed him to follow.

Once they were inside Gain began to get clumsy he stumbled into the same table twice and a counter before Michael began to react.

"Will you stop walking into shit"

"I can't Michael, it's dark!"

"come closer" Gavin complied, shuffling foreward "Take my hand"

"What!" Michael sighed reaching out into the darkness and retrieving the other boys hand himself "It's easier this way"

" ok" He said feebly

neither of them were aware of the redness that had accumulated on each others faces, he led him through the house, going slowly partly because he didn't want to wake his parents and partly because he wanted to hold Gavin's hand for as long as he could.

"This is my room" he said opening the door and gesturing inside with his cut-covered hand.

"Uhm, Michael?"

"What is it not clean enough or something?"

Gavin shook his head "No no, it's... uhh my hand" he realised he was still gripping his hand tightly He dropped it and stepped back, he laughed somewhat nervously and whispered a soft sorry.

Gavin grabbed Michael's injured hand by the wrist and gently brought it up to his face"Holy shit Michael! What did you do?"

Micheal pulled his hand back and glared at Gavin "Shut up, my parents are sleeping"

"Sorry, but This is way worse than you said"

"I'm fine, don't worry" Gavin remained skeptical but Micheal continued " So what did you want to ask"

His expression suddenly turned from concern to nervousness "Uh..the lake will you come?"

"Are you kidding me?, you seriously came all this way to ask me that?, really?, seriously?"

Gavin nodded, slightly embarrassed "So?"

Michael laughed "of course I'll come, I love it there"

The smile on Gavin's face flourished once again."I guess I'll go then"

"You're gonna walk home now?, Right now"

"Yeah?"

"Nah, you're not going anywhere, I'm not letting you get murdered in the middle of the night"

Gavin scoffed "I won't be killed"

"This is america man, land of the free-and the murderous, I have a double bed anyway, we could watch a movie or something"

Gavin thought for a awhile and apparently he liked the idea because he started to grin again "Alright then, If you say so"

soon enough the boy's were in bed together watching a movie they had agreed on almost instantaneously an falling asleep almost as quick, they had both gone through a roller coaster of emotions that day and were exhausted.


	12. Chapter 12

The morning sunlight seeped into Michael's room from the crack between the curtains, filling the room with a warm glow that highlighted the dust floating lazily about, more importantly it fell across the boys who were currently entangled under the sheets. Michael's cheek was pressed against Gavin's chest, his arm resting on his waist, whilst Gavin had his face buried in Michael's reddish brown curls and his arms snaked tightly around his slim body, Michael's loose t-shirt balled up inside his fists.

Michael awoke first very slowly as he was very comfortable but he was warm, really warm he opened his eyes hesitantly and was greeted by another person, at first he panicked; forgetting what had happened the previous night, he tried to push himself away but Gavin's grip on him was too strong, soon after his feeble escape attempt his memories came back.

Michael wiggled and reached his face out of Gavin's chest, his cheeks already burning from embarrassment "Gavin!" He whisper-shouted, not daring to make his voice go any higher out of fear of being found out. Gavin had heard him but his only response was to bury his face deeper into Michael's hair. "Gavin!" he repeated.

"Go 'way geoff"He breathed "mm tired"

"Gavin!" Michael shouted through his teeth.

Suddenly he snapped to attention, apparently realising the situation he was in, He pushed Michael away so forcefully that the rolled off the bed and a loud bump came with it.

"Michael?" his dads voice carried through the air

Michael stood up and looked at Gavin, staying completely silent in suspense, then the sound if footsteps echoed through the house . "Shit, Gavin, he's coming" he stared back at him, seemingly bewildered by the terrified expression on his face, "Hide, gavin please"

Gavin held up his hands in a small shrug motion "where?"

"The, uh, under the bed, quick!" Gavin swiftly did as he was told and hopped off the bed and slid himself underneath.

Michael's fathers burst in the door and peered in "Who the hell were you talking to?"

"No, no-one dad, just me"

"Michael, who d'you think you're speaking to, i'm not stupid" he smiled then which worried Michael "You have you're girlfriend in here? Lindsay, did she stay over last night?"

Michael sighed deeply"We broke up dad, like a month and a half ago, didn't I tell you that"

His dad Laughed "you did but there's no telling what a boy'll do these days"

"Dad we're friends"

He tutted "that doesn't mean much" He entered the room, closing the door behind him and looked Michael up and down "Well, I'll assume you're telling the truth, but there's something we need to talk about"

"and what's that?" knowing well what he was talking about.

"you're rudeness yesterday at the table, I was going to discuss this yesterday, but your mother convinced me to leave you a night so I wouldn't, I guess, overreact"

Michael nodded, indicating that he understood and waited for his father to continue.

"I want you to know that leaving in the middle of a dinner with my _boss_ was Unacceptable " His face began to get red and he walked towards Michael, towering over him in a way that made him nervous "I have never been so humiliated in my entire life!" a vein was bulging out from his forehead "If you  _ever_  do  _anything_  like that in front of him again I'll.." he raised his fist in the air then took a deep breath and lowered it again "just don't do anything that'll cost me my job okay?"

Michael gulped and stood back "okay dad, i'm sorry bu" he was about to say but and argue his side but with a glance at his fathers face he let it go.

His father smiled and nodded "Well alright then" he said patting Michael on the back on the way out, he breathed a sigh of relief and sat on his bed, burying his face in his hands. he punched his bed with his good hand "Fuck" he laid down on his bed.

"Michael?" Gavin whispered from underneath the bed "Can I come out now?"

he felt a rush of embarrassment knowing Gavin had heard everything "Yeah, it's safe now". he pulled himself out from underneath the bed and stood up, Michael sat up and looked at Gavin his face ablaze "I'm sorry about my dad, he's always like that"

Gavin sat himself down beside Michael "It's okay" he said softly "It's not your fault" Gavin smiled, a smile that relieved Michael of all the embarrassment that he had felt. "What did you do to make him so angry?"

Michael smiled "It wasn't really as bad as my dad made it out to be , all I did was storm off, they were talking shit and couldn't take it"

"Is that why you punched your mirror?"

"mm-hmm, they made me angry and I had to...let it out somehow"

Gavin reached for Michael injured hand and examined it for a moment "Well next time take it out on something that won't hurt you, like a pillow or me"

"I'm not gonna punch you, idiot"

They laughed "Anyway I better go before Griffon and geoff get worried"

"Okay, we'll sneak you out the back and you gotta be careful and quiet no noise, nothing got it?"

"Got it"

Michael stood up and slowly turning the the handle and peaking around the door "follow me"

Gavin put his shoes on and joined Michael in the hall poised and ready to go. the padded down the hall their hearts both beating wildly when they reached the corner of the hall Michael pressed himself against the wall and looked around the corner, the coast was clear and he motioned Gavin to move forward. They stepped ahead only to see Michael's mom exit the room down the hall backwards a basket with clothing in hand, Michael shoved Gavin with force back around the corner.

"Morning Michael or should I say afternoon, you know its almost two o'clock, I thought I'd let you sleep in though, you seem to be tired lately" she walked towards Michael, a crease forming between her eyebrows "Are you alright honey?"

"yeah, no, yes I'm fine" she didn't look sure but she nodded anyway

"Okay, I'm gonna wash some clothes so can you bring down your dirty things"

"Yes, I can do that "

"alright then, see you later" she went downstairs to the immense relief of Michael who let out a huge breath and turned around the corner and faced Gavin who didn't look too pleased.

"That hurt" he muttered

"Sorry gav, c'mon we have to make it through the kitchen and out the door before my mom gets back"

They tiptoed down the stairs Michael's head flipping side to side all the while by the time they had reached the door Michael was sure that he was going to have a heart attack, he opened it quickly and held it open for Gavin who smiled widely.

"I had fun, Michael, thanks for letting me stay"

"No problem it was fun"

Gavin started to run away but turned back and said "Text me back next time Okay!"

"I will Gavin, I will" He said and he meant it too.


	13. Chapter 13

" _..the temperature is soaring reaching almost 87 degrees today and Is set to rise over the weekend..."_

Michael looked at the middle aged white man, with teeth so bright they could blind you, who was presenting the weather and he sighed, he didn't like the heat, it made him lazy and bored, the world around him seemed to slow to a halt during days like this.

He groaned wiping the sweat off his forehead and taking huge gulps of the water that was next to him, the only thing keeping him awake that day was the trip to the lake was going to begin soon.

They had planned to rent one of the lake houses for the weekend, but Lindsay's uncle who had recently moved there was going into the city for a week on a business trip and had offered up his house as long as they promised not to go into his art studio, which was an easy promise to make.

Michael heard a car pull up to his house and he hauled himself off the couch, they were here and it was time to go.

"Bye Mom, see you Sunday!" He shouted up the stairs

he heard her hurried footsteps coming towards him "Oh, honey, I'll miss you" she said kissing him on the head "be good and be safe" she followed him outside "and be smart too, I love you!"

"Love you too"

he threw his bag carelessly into the back of Lindsay's dad's truck before hopping in the back where Ray was sprawled out and almost asleep, he was definitely being effected by the heat in a big way.

"love you too" Ray muttered, laughing to himself

"not your best, Ray"Michael reached for the seat belt and felt the searing heat of the buckle and swore loudly.

Ray laughed again and said "karma's a bitch"

"Sorry"Lindsay said "Forgot to warn you"

"It's okay" he replied waving his hand in the air, as if it would relieve the pain.

"Alright, were on our way"

"Finally"Gavin said, ever impatient.

After half an hour of being stuck in traffic had passed Gavin started to get bored and the way he decided to fix that was by asking questions.

"How far away is it?"

"Like 70 miles, I think"

"How long does it take do get there?"

"An hour and a half"

"More like two hours and a half with this traffic" Michael added

"What time will it be when we get there?, what's the house like?, how many rooms are there?, are there any shops?, what do you do there?"

"Will you shut the fuck up?" Michael said, annoyed "can you not just be quiet until we get there?, asking stupid-ass questions for two fucking hours is not gonna make this any more fun"

"Whatever" Gavin said "Wanna play a game"

"Oh my fucking god"

after that Gavin was silent apart from the occasional sigh or groan he let out.

Ray woke up when there were half-way there, stretching and yawning "It's hot as balls in here, can you turn the AC up Lindsay?"

"Nah, It's on full blast"

All of the windows were open, including the sun-roof, but somehow this didn't do much to get rid off the heat, especially while they were crawling along in the Texas traffic the felt like his brain was turning to mush after so long without any stimulation and being cooked within the four walls of the car.

"can we at least turn on the radio?, maybe play some music, i'm so bored" Gavin said

"Sorry" Lindsay said, tapping her dad's Radio "It's never worked, doubt it ever will, my dad likes silence in his truck, he likes to appreciate the sounds of nature"

"Yeah let's listen to the wonderful sounds of the American wild, the cry of the angry driver and the frustrated beeping of people that should've left their houses a whole lot earlier than they did" said Gavin sarcastically.

"Complaining about everything isn't going to get us there any faster"

The trip got much better when they left the highway and were on the roads that were less surrounded by buildings and more by trees and other various green plants, their morale was raised because Lindsay could drive faster and therefore the wind was blowing in through the windows, cooling everything, including Michael's temper, down.

"Are we nearly there?" Gavin said, the scenery convincing him that the Lake had to be close.

"Yes, Gavin we're nearly there, fifteen minutes tops"

"Is that  _One direction?"_ asked Ray turning around and squinting

At first Michael wondered if Ray was hallucinating, seeing a British boy band in the distance or something like that, but he was completely wrong, Ray was hearing the bands Music from another car, to be specific a large green Jeep full of teens, that passed them at an insane speed.

"Holy shit" Lindsay exclaimed "they're eager"

they arrived soon after this interaction, pulling up next to a modern style house with a huge balcony facing the lake, it had a flat roof and large windows, it looked as if there was more glass than wall.

"This is it" Lindsay said gesturing towards it "I've stayed here before so I'll give the Grand tour"

She led them up the gravel driveway, unlocking the door with a badly hidden key and began her tour.

"Ok, so there are only two rooms but there's four beds and in here" she opened a door adjacent to her "Is where you guy's are staying" Inside there was a bunk bed along with another single bed tucked in the corner, next to a wooden dresser.

"Why does he have these?" asked Ray

"For when his kids stay" she said "he's divorced"

"Oh"

She continued down the hallway "There's the bathroom and over here is the living room, kitchen and balcony"

The room spread out before them was extremely modern looking, sleek surfaces, leather couches, boring colours and stainless steel appliances.

"Whats in here?" Gavin said reaching for the handle of the door next to him

"No"said Lindsay "We're not allowed in that room, It's his art studio, no trespassing under any circumstances"

"Why?"

"I don't know, he probably has some projects going on that he doesn't want us to ruin" She said "Time to unpack"

there was a simultaneous groan from the throughout the group of boys .

"can't we go for a swim first" ray asked "just a little one"

"No, because it won't just be 'a little one', unpack now it won't take that long"

half and hour later they were all unpacked and changed, they walked down the dirt road to the water all of them eager and more then ready to take a good long swim.

Michael walked in slowly and let himself float on the water, the gentle ripples cooling him down and refreshing his mind.

"holy shit, this is amazing!" Ray shouted "I haven't been this awake in ages"

Michael heard a scream and he looked around to see Gavin let go of a rope, flail through the air and splash into the water.

"there's a rope-swing, it's huge!" he said after resurfacing, wiping the water off of his eyes "you have to try it"

Michael didn't take more then a few seconds to think about it before he was at the rope pulling it back as far as possible then he took a running leap, he felt the wind blow against his face and he faced the clouds before he let go of the rope at the highest point, letting out a shout while he fell.

He plunged into the water, the pleasant cold of it engulfing him. He came up to the surface, raking his hand through his wet hair and laughing "Gavin's right " he said, a genuine smile spreading across his face "You have to try it, it was phenomenal"

Lindsay didn't put up a fuss and went up immediately and afterwards she praised Gavin for his find, ray however put up a fight, saying he was too tired to hold onto the rope that long, but this was remedied by Gavin saying that he'd pay ray five dollars to do it and as soon as that was said, he was out of the water and on the rope. He didn't go very high but he did end up falling very ungracefully upside down much to the amusement of everyone else.

"Never fucking doing that again" he said "worth it though"

"Jones!"

Michael looked up from ray to the source of the voice "No" He said rubbing His eyes and hoping he saw wrong.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" asked Ray

"Michael's dad told my dad you guy's would be here this weekend so I thought I'd tag along" Josh said "We passed you earlier by the way, In the Jeep, also we're next door"

The group exchanged glances while Josh started to walk back up the sloping dirt path back to his house.

"This is going to be fun!" he yelled, his hands cupping his mouth "can't wait"


	14. Chapter 14

"I actually hate that guy" ray said moving towards the shore "can't he leave you alone for one fucking weekend, what a douche bag"

"Don't worry guys, we're not going to notice they're here, I doubt we'll even see him all that often" Michael said, convinced that Josh would be too busy with his girlfriend and friends that he'd leave them alone.

"Yeah, Michael's right and anyway we know this place really well, we can avoid him if we have to" Lindsay said

They spent the next few hours in the water, quickly forgetting that Josh had been there at all, and enjoying themselves just as much as they had before they had been so unhappily disturbed.

"What's for dinner?" Asked Gavin, this question making the each person in the group realise that they were hungry.

"I'll cook" Michael offered, heading towards the house "Is pasta okay?"

Yeah"

"Ye boi"

"Sure"

Michael went to work, his mind whirring, considering what sauce he could make, and realising that he would be cooking for Gavin made him a little nervous.

Michael spent an hour making dinner, eventually deciding on a recipe that Geoff had taught him how to make, he plated up the meal after having decorated the table nicely, with a flower he had found in the garden that he stuck in a cup he thought looked nice enough to pass as a vase. He adjusted the position of Gavin's cutlery multiple times, he wanted to get it just right but he couldn't seem to achieve the perfection he was going for.

He called them in each of them pleasantly surprised by the food that was laid out before them, they sat on the four sides of the square table, all equal distances apart and Michael watched Gavin rather impatiently while he took his first bite.

"This is delicious, Michael"he said, he felt his face start to redden as Gavin piled on twice as much as he had with the first forkful.

"Yeah, dude, I knew you could cook but this..." said Ray trailing off

"It's amazing" Lindsay added, as if to finish Ray's remark

"Thank you" he said, a little overwhelmed by all the feedback "I've never really cooked for anyone before"

"Well you can cook for me any time, sunshine" Gavin said through a mouth filled with pasta

"gladly"Michael replied wondering what it would be like to make him breakfast every morning lunch every afternoon and dinner every night.

The rest of the deal was relatively silent apart from the music that Michael had set up to play in the background and the noises of people eating. He watched Gavin for the most part, in a way he thought to be subtle but by the third or fourth glance Lindsay had noticed and nudged ray who tried to count how many times it happened but eventually got bored and lost count.

* * *

"I call this one"Ray said, flopping onto the single bed in the corner, placing his arms behind his head.

"I call bottom bunk then" Gavin said, sitting down and making himself comfortable

"I guess that means I'm top bunk" he climber the wooden wrung sand and sprawled out on the bed, tired from the day.

"I'm gonna get changed and stuff, see ya in a bit" Gavin said, heading for the bathroom

"get a good look at him"Ray said to Michael

"what're you talking about"Michael replied , sitting up

"At dinner" he wiggled his eyebrows "We caught you looking and I'd have told you to take a picture, but I'm pretty sure you have the image ingrained in your mind, the amount of time you spent staring at him"

Michael fought the blush forming on his face "shut up Ray" he paused a moment then, suddenly worried, said "But do you think he, Gavin, noticed at all?" the blush had one and he was now a deep red.

Ray considered being cruel and saying he had but then again Michael  _had_  cooked him dinner"Nah, I don't think so, he's a bit dim when it comes to stuff like this and he doesn't know you're...well... _interested_ anyway"

"Thanks"said Michael "I think, but do you really think that he's that clueless, he is smart despite, uhm, everything, he gets straight A's in computers"

"Don't worry about it, he gets machines sure but he couldn't read a person if he tried"

"you're probably right"Michael said leaning back onto his bed

A few minutes later Gavin came back and Ray left.

"god I'm tired" he said through a yawn, his eyelids drooping."You better not piss the bed while we're here"

Michael laughed "even if I did, and I won't, I  _don't_ think it would make it through the mattress"

"that's comforting" Gavin mumbled in reply

"I hope so, wouldn't want you worried , would we?" He waited for a reply, but all he heard was Gavin's soft breathing, he had fallen asleep.

He climbed down from the bed and watched Gavin, he looked peaceful apart from the fact that his mouth was slightly open. He moved closer, slowly taking in all the details of his face, the way his eyes were shaped, the fluffyness of his hair, the largeness of his nose, he smiled to himself.

"Didn't you get enough of his face earlier" Michael jumped whacking his head on the bar above his put his hand on his head turning around to face Ray

"Fuck you, that hurt"

"It wouldn't have happened if you didn't have your face up his ass"

Michael glared at ray who shrugged his shoulders "just sayin' "

he left the room and went to the bathroom, bumping into Lindsay on the way.

"hey Michael" she smiled "dinner was great and so, apparently, was the view"

"You saw that too?"

She laughed "Yeah, it was  _really_  obvious"

"Oh god" Michael groaned

"You shouldn't be too concerned about it, i don't think caught you, he was too invested in your cooking"

"Thanks Linds"

"No Problem" she said, turning towards her room

* * *

"wake up, Ray, Michael, Gavin, wake up!"

Michael's eyes opened slowly, the bright light from the window stinging his eyes.

"what is it Lindsay?" Asked Ray, sounding concerned

"Those assholes- just come and see" She said sounding frustrated.

The three boy's got out of bed and followed Lindsay half-dressed, bare-foot and drowsy, she led them out side much to their displeasure, Michael rubbed his eyes to try and get them used to the brightness, she stood back and pointed at the house, hands on hips.

"Those fuckers, what the hell" Ray said

"I can't believe they egged us, what are they?, twelve?"

"So much for not noticing they're here" muttered Michael, Kicking some gravel with his foot.

"You go get dressed and come out here and help me clean this shit up, the longer we wait the more impossible it'll be to clean"

they groaned heading back inside, they changed, gathered supplies and got to work, the majority of it was scrubbing, which Michael found himself to be surprisingly good at.

"that's enough"Lindsay sighed, stretching "I give up, my uncle is gonna have to live with a slightly yellow-stained house"

"This is so shitty"Ray said standing up from where he was crouched "if only we'd gotten to it earlier"

"You don't think they'd do it again do you?" Gavin said packing up his cleaning supplies "because I don't want to do this again, ever"

"I doubt it, they're not that boring, they'll probably do something else though"

"God I hope it's nothing messy"

"Alright so who wants to go take a dip" Gavin asked

"i'll go"

"me too"

"I could use a swim"

They ran down the dirt path, leaving a small cloud of dust in their wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't actually know whether Michael is a good cook or not, all i know is that he does the most cooking between himself and Lindsay so that part could be kind of ooc


	15. Chapter 15

Gavin climbed the tree near the lake for no particular reason apart from being high up. He watched his friends splashing around in the crystal blue water below him and smiled, he understood why this was Michael's favourite place, It was so calming and tranquil, it always left him at peace. He glanced back to Michael remembering yesterday, he had been so certain that he was staring at him during dinner but when he'd asked Lindsay about it she assured him that no such thing had been happening, he didn't want to believe her though, surely Michael staring at him couldn't be a bad thing.

"Hey!"Gavin yelled down to the group "Who dares me to jump!"

"I would" Ray shouted back "but you'd chicken out!"

"Bullshit" Gavin stood up on the thick branch and steadied himself, his arms spread wide "watch this dick-head, I'll do a front flip for style"

he walked further out on the branch, each step becoming more wobbly than the previous and just before he reached the edge he slipped hitting his rear-end on the branch and falling backwards and exclaiming "sausages!" on the way down.

He resurfaced immediately greeted with the sound of laughter.

Gavin blushed "I'm fine by the way, If anyone cares"

"I'm sorry Gavin" ray said through tears "where's the front flip?"

"Ha ha, funny"

"Oh my god, I wish you could've seen it, I think this is the best moment of my life, the look on your face" Michael said his dimples making an appearance.

"It bloody hurt too"

they continued to laugh, ignoring him

"why don't you try it then?, If it's so easy"

"No way"ray said immediately "I'm not dying today"

"I'll do it" Michael said, swimming towards it, Gavin watched as he climbed with ease up to the branch he had used.

"What was it you said?, front flip for style?" He said , walking towards the edge and jumping, and he did a front flip and as if to rub it in he landed almost completely vertical.

Gavin's mouth dropped open "what the hell, did you train for this?"

Michael ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head "it was beginners luck I guess, I don't think I've ever tried to flip before now"

"you're a liar" Lindsay said "you were drunk when you did it but it definitely happened, I have a video on my phone"

"Oh, I gotta see this" Gavin beamed "Where's your phone?"

"Its on that stump there"

Michael winced at the thought "We don't really have to watch it do we?"

"Of course we do Michael, footage of anyone drunk is valuable footage"

they followed Lindsay to her phone and she brought up the video It was very shaky and the audio mainly consisted of Lindsay laughing, a drunk Michael stumbled on screen and looked into the camera "I'll do it I th-wear" he slurred

"Oh god" Michael said

"I remember this" Ray said, laughing

"I don't"

The drunken Michael climbed, or fell up a bench that was near him "Watchme I- I'll-I'll do a flip" he jumped a few inches into air, landed back onto the bench and fell forewords, he hit the ground with a dull thud, greeted with nothing but laughter, he sat up smiling pumped his fist into the air and said "Ididit" then the video cut off.

"Eh, it wasn't that bad" Michael said shrugging

"Be more annoyed" Gavin said giving Michael a little shove "We can't make fun of you if you don't care"

"I can't help it if I don't give a shit"

"You will in a minute" Gavin said threateningly

"and why's that?"

He made frustrated noises then said "You just will"

* * *

They spent the day there without incident, that was until Ray spotted someone walking towards the them.

"He's back" Muttered ray "and this time he brought one of his henchmen"

They looked up to see Josh swaggering towards them, his best friend Brett in tow."Hey what are you losers up to" Josh yelled down

"original insult there" Michael said

"Whatever, ass-hole, we just came here to give you an invite"

"Nah"

"What do you mean nah?" He replied, as if he had never been denied something in his entire life, which was very possible.

"I mean no, I'm not going anywhere with you or that other steroid ridden friend you brought along"

"steroids!? I don't-"

"Shut it Brett we're not here to fight"

Brett rolled his eyes and crossed his arms tightly "Whatever"

"Just come here Jones so I can explain it to you"

Michael sighed, considered the situation then said "Alright"

"You don't have to do what he say's" Lindsay whispered to him

"that's the thing, I kind of do" he said under his breath, Michael strode over and stopped in front of Josh who took them to side, away from Brett "What's this invitation then?"

"I want you to make an appearance at our party tonight and if you don't there will be  _consequences, understand_?"

"Wait, you didn't tell him did you?" he said motioning his head towards Brett.

"No I didn't but I will if you're not there got it?"

"Got it, I'll be there"

"No,  _all_  of you will be there"

"You can't ask me to take them too" Michael said firmly

"I think I can"

"Fine, fine I'll ask them"

"Tonight at nine, next door, to the left, big wooden cabin thing, see ya" he turned around and began to head back the way he came "C'mon Brett we're out of here"

"Finally"

Michael felt like he had lost once again, he hated feeling so helpless against him, he walked back to water slowly, not wanting to make the conversation he was about to have happen any quicker than it had to.

"What happened Michael? What'd he say to you?" Gavin asked

"We have to go" he replied

"What?"

"We have to go" he repeated

"why?"

"We Just have to okay, I can't explain it's complicated, but trust me on this we're better off going than not"

The other three exchanged looks of confusion but didn't attempt to pry more information from the unwilling Michael in front of them.

* * *

Later that night they were walking towards Josh's cabin along the edge of the road hugging the trees and admiring the sky, it was clear, not a cloud in sight.

Gavin and Michael were walking silently next to each other, Ray and Lindsay a little farther ahead having a very animated conversation that neither of them could hear.

"About tonight" Gavin started, locking eyes with Michael

"What about it?"

"has it got anything to do with the fact that you always do his homework?"

Michael stopped and stared at him, a little surprised that he had realised what was going on "N-no uh, well, kind of I guess"

"Why do you do it for him?"

Michael chose he words carefully before saying them "I just have to, It's part of our deal, that's all I can tell you"

Gavin sighed, looking away from Michael and up to the star-spotted sky "At least it's something"

After that Michael felt yet another felt a wave of guilt wash through him, he didn't want to hide the truth from him, from all of them, but it was all too complicated, there was a consequence for every decision he had to make and none of them seemed like they could end well.

 

 


	16. Chapter 16

"Don't drink anything they give you, no matter what okay" Michael said, a serious look on his face.

"Do you really think they'd drug us?" Gavin asked, looking a little nervous.

"I didn't think they'd egg us, but they did so it's better to be on the safe side and not eat or drink anything they give us"

"why are we even going if you're so damn worried" Ray Muttered "I don't want to spend tonight in a room full of people I don't like"

"Neither do I" sighed Michael "But it's too late, we're here"

the cabin was made of hefty wooden logs and was on equally hefty stilts, it looked very strong and powerful in a way, but Michaels first impression of it was that it was peaceful and for some reason that put him on edge.

"Why is it so big said Lindsay "What do they need to fit in there"

"I don't know, their egos"

Michael began to feel nervous as they climbed the wooden stairs up to the door, he couldn't hear any music or any noise of talking. Lindsay knocked on the door and Brett opened it, he had a smile on his face and he ushered them inside.

"Where is everybody?" Gavin asked, scanning the empty room for any signs of other humans

Brett ignored him and walked over to a door, stuck his head around the corner and said "Josh, They're all here"

A few seconds later Josh came around the corner grinning smugly "are we ready to begin?"

"Begin what?" Questioned Michael getting increasingly more worried and maybe even scared as time went on.

"we are" and in that very moment both the boy's sprinted towards the door without warning, the exited and locked it behind them.

"what the fuck" Michael stormed towards the door "what the hell Josh"

"We're going to have fun at your place, c'mon girls"

"Josh!" Michael watched him walk casually downstairs through a small window embedded in the door.

"JOSH!" He bellowed "God dammit, you motherfucker, I'm gonna kill you!" He kicked the door with all his strength then pounded on it repeatedly with his fist.

"Michael"said Gavin

He spun around from the door, overflowing with rage "What!" he shouted

"Calm down"

Michael made a noise which could only be described as a growl and sat down on the cream sofa situated in front of a huge HD flat screen TV and he beat himself up, mentally that is. He couldn't believe it, how had he not expected this, he had thought of everything, he had made plans for every situation he could make up, but this was not one of them.

"What're we going to do" Lindsay said sounding worried "what'll they do to the house?" she began to pace around the room "what if they go into his art room?, Did you lock the front door?" Gavin nodded to answer, but this only seemed to make it worse as her face dropped and she sat down "There gonna break a window, I don't have any money, oh god, my uncle is going to kill me"

"Don't worry"ray said, putting his arm around her gently "it's okay, they won't break anything, Josh knows he'll get into trouble with his dad if he does" Ray's words appeared to work and she began to settle down.

Michael watched Gavin walk around the room to check each door, he knew that this would be a fruitless effort because he knew Josh well enough to know that he would've thought through this plan for hours maybe even days, but he didn't say anything, he let Gavin go on his way grasping each handle turning them and giving it a firm shake before sighing and moving onto the next, the only one that opened was the bathroom door, apparently he didn't want them to make any mess.

"how long d'ya think they'll be gone" ray said

"Probably until morning"

"Really?, what could they even do over there till morning"

"A whole lot"

"Don't" Lindsay warned "I really can't handle any more of it"

"Sorry" Michael said "this is all my fault, I should've told him no, I'm sorry Lindsay, I really am"

"It's Ok" she said softly "there's no way you could've known anyway"

"Well"ray said" If we're really going to be here all night then I call the white sofa"

"I call the black one" Lindsay said

"I guess we get the rug then gav" Michael said, Gavin groaned in response "at least we get the wonderful view of this blind" Michael gestured upwards to a huge covered skylight above them.

"Is there any food in here?"

"I doubt it"

"there's a mini fridge over here" said Lindsay "It only has coke and water in it, but there's a bunch of chips and popcorn in the box next to it"

"Chips?" Gavin said, confused "why would they be in a-oh right crisps"

"little British idiot" Michael whispered to himself, smiling

"He's got a ton of movies under this TV" ray said perusing the stacks for one that seemed good "I bet he has surround sound too, he looked around, yep there's the speakers"

"I guess it's movie night" Lindsay said, carrying the box of food and drinks over and placing it on the table.

It didn't take them long to get set up, ray on his couch, Lindsay on hers and the two other boy's seated on a bunch of cushions nestled next to Lindsay couch.

Hours later when they had watched multiple movies and Lindsay and Ray were asleep Gavin and Michael were still wide awake.

"What d'you wanna do then?" Gavin asked in a low voice

"not watch a movie anyway, I don't think I have enough energy in me to pay attention to it"

Suddenly and idea sparked in his head and Michael got up and found the the small white string connected the the skylights blind and gently pulled it, revealing the clear, dark night sky, he looked back to Gavin who was staring in awe at the view, the stars reflecting of his eyes causing them to twinkle.

He slid back into his spot next to him and pulled their shared blanket back over himself, they sat there in silence for a long time until Gavin whispered, still staring at the sky "I know this is kind f strange to say but I'm glad this happened, being locked in here with you guys was fun, whatever the reason for it was"

"I'm glad too" Michael said, trying and failing to hide his smile.

Their hands brushed each other but instead of jumping back and creating distance, they became closer, Michael slipping his fingers inbetween the gaps between Gavin's. Neither of the acknowledged what was happening, they didn't even look at each other again, they simply sat there, hand in hand both their hearts going a thousand beats per minute.


	17. Chapter 17

Lindsay woke up slowly, last night she had been the first to fall asleep and as a result of what had occurred yesterday she had a few nightmares of Josh, Brett and their multitude of groupies wrecking the whole house, and more specifically his art studio.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes vigorously, her eyes drifted to Gavin and Michael, she saw their hands touching and she drew to the conclusion that they had been holding hands when they fell asleep and she grinned, she was happy for him and although she no longer harboured any romantic feelings towards him it still made her feel just the tiniest bit lonely, she also felt somewhat proud of him because she knew that Michael had grown to accept his feelings for Gavin and was now desperately trying to overcome his fear of everyone else accepting him how all, or most considering Gavin wasn't yet aware, of his friends had.

Michael had tried his best to keep his problems to himself but his effort had most definitely been in vain as they could all see that he was becoming more and more secretive, uncommunicative and quiet but they also knew how stubborn he was and most of the time it was useless for them to even try, they did anyway of course, always asking if he needed any help or if he was okay, naturally he always answered with total lies but that never stopped them from trying.

She heard ray yawn and she looked over to see him stretching and his eyes too went to Gavin and Michael and his reaction was the same, a smile, but his was smaller and more sleepy.

“morning Lindsay” Ray said through another yawn

“Morning Ray”

“seems like they had a good time after we fell asleep, right?”

“Right ”

* * *

 

It was almost half an hour later when they heard a pounding on the door “Jones!” Josh shouted from the other side of the door.

Michael woke with a start, jolting up and mumbling a soft yes as if his mother had just asked him if he was awake,

“Jones come here”

He got to his feet and walked to the door “What?”

“Let me in”

“What the hell are you talking about?, you fucking locked us in you can let you're self in”

“there's a key under that potted plant next to the door, my dad's paranoid he keeps them everywhere”

“And why should I let you in?, It's not like you've done us any favours”

Michael heard Josh groan and he said “Just do it”

Michael looked to his left where a large and rather depressed looking plant sat, it's leaves were wilted and it looked as though it were melting, he grabbed the pot with both his hands and shuffled it backwards, he scooped up small pristine key and slotted it through the mailbox.

He heard the key hit the ground he stepped back as Josh opened the door, he looked dirty and dishevelled and like he'd been out wandering for hours.

“What the hell happened to you?”

“I got lost in that stupid forest”

“where is everyone else?”

“They must still be out there I guess, they ditched me last night when I went to take a leak, Brett probably thought he had a better chance with the girls if I wasn't with him”

“we have to find them”Lindsay said

“Why”Gavin asked “can't they find their own way back”

“No”Lindsay said “I think it's a miracle that Josh made it out ok. There's a bunch of ditches and holes out there” She glared at Josh “why did you go through the forest anyway?”

He sat down and rolled his eyes “I didn't spend a whole night walking to come home to a lecture from you, we just wanted to take an interesting short cut, for excitement ,you know”

“I know that you're an idiot” she replied “c'mon we better find them before they kill themselves”

“She's right”Michael said putting on his shoes “It is dangerous if you don't know where you are”

Gavin sighed and Ray looked like he'd been asked to walk the whole perimeter of the state but they got up nonetheless.

The left the house and josh and headed into the wilderness, which actually wasn't all that big but it did feel that way when you were in the thick of it.

“Ok, we're going to split up, Ray you're with me and Michael you take Gavin” Before anyone could say a thing she took ray by wrist and headed off in the other direction, turning back to wink at Michael before she disappeared in the distance.

“follow me”

“Is it really that dangerous out here?”

“it isn't but it isn't,you know that we used to come here all the time last summer right?”

“Right”

“Well one day we were playing a huge game of cops and robbers, that's when we had this party and” Michael realised he had started prattling then said “long story short I got stuck down this huge ditch, i'm not exactly very tall so I couldn't get myself out, I was there for at least three hours but there's no way you can get lost, one way it's Lindsay's uncles house, the other it's Josh's, then there's the road and the lake”

“So why's Lindsay so worried then?, If they can't get lost”

“they could get lost, they're not the brightest and they could also be stuck in a ditch”

they walked around the edges of the forest first before deciding to enter into it further and further but no matter how long they seemed to walk they didn't find any evidence of anyone being there.

“Stay close to me, I think this is near where I-”

Michael was cut off by Gavin screaming

“Gavin!” He shouted, turning around, he looked down the ditch and saw Gavin hunched over, his hand on his ankle.

“Are you ok?”

He groaned “Yeah, my ankle is sprained though”

“Can you stand?”

He shakily got to his feet “yes”

Michael kneeled on the ground and extended his arm down towards the other boy “alight grab my arm and walk yourself up”

“I'll pull you in!”

“You won't if you're quick beside I'm strong enough to hold you up”

He looked unsure but he reached up anyway, gripping Michael's hand tightly and scrambling up the dirt wall, Michael heaved him up and over edge.

“I think that's it for us today gav, we better go back”

he stood up and helped Gavin up draping his arm around his shoulders

“I can walk by myself” he protested

“I'm sure you could, but I don't want to spend four hours of my life waiting for you”

Gavin smiled “ok” He whispered leaning into Michael

 

 


	18. Chapter 18

It took them much longer to get back to Josh's house than Michael had first anticipated, two hours longer to be exact, they had gotten lost multiple times despite Michael knowing the way but Gavin being so close meant that he was easily distracted.

“I'm tired ”Gavin groaned, Michael peered to his side and saw sweat glistening on his face, he looked back to the front and craned his neck upwards to see over the small incline ahead and he spotted the house they were staying in, they had gone the exact opposite direction to where they were supposed to, he hadn't realised just how turned around they'd gotten.

“we're nearly there” He said“look, look you can see it just up there”

A weary smile spread across Gavin's face “Finally” he breathed

They struggled the last few metres up to the house and were greeted by a very worried looking Lindsay. “I was about to call the cops, where've you guys been?- Gavin what happened to your foot?”

“He fell” Michael said sitting his injured friend on a nearby bench “he's okay though, It’s just a sprain”

“We found the others, it was kind of funny actually, they were hidden in a small cave thing and they were freaking out and they practically started crying when They saw me and Ray”

“Did they go back to Josh's?”

“Nah, they went home, Josh wanted to go out there and find you guys were back he said that he didn't want to be held responsible if anyone died, but Brett insisted they leave”

Michael nodded and Lindsay continued “We packed up the car, we're ready to go home”

“That sounds great, c'mere Gav”Michael reached down and helped Gavin to his feet “I'll put him in the car, you get Ray”

They hobbled the short distance to the car and collapsed into the seats and breathed a sigh of utter relief, walking for that long was not something either of them was willing to repeat for any time soon.

“It huuurts” Gavin leaned down, pulled up his pant leg and revealed the reddened swollen mass of a his leg.

“Holy shit” Michael gasped, raising his eyebrows “I didn't know it was that bad, I would've carried you if I'd known”

Gavin blushed a little then said “It's okay now”

“Here” Michael reached for Gavins foot, he slowly and carefully placed it on his lap “you have to keep it elevated, It'll help the swelling go down”

Moments later Lindsay was back, a tired looking Ray in tow, and she had started up the truck and they were off, It was no where near as hot as is was when they had left , not that Michael was awake to realise any of this, Himself, Gavin and Ray slept the entire way back, while Lindsay survived on a surplus of caffeine.

Michael was the last to be dropped off and once he'd gotten inside he deflected his mom’s questions by promising to give a full account of the events at dinner, he headed up to bed, where he happily remained for the next few hours until his mom woke him up for dinner.

He told her the majority of what happened but left out that they'd been locked in Josh's house, instead saying that they were invited and had stayed over, which seemed to please his father to a great extent.

“It looks like you've become great friends” He said, a grin plastered across his face

“Yeah” Michael replied trying to sound at least a little enthusiastic

“Back to school tomorrow” He mother said

“don't remind me”

“You better get back on the wagon again, son” His father said, the grin disappeared now replaced by a frown “Your grades have taken a nose dive, you were a great student”

“I'm sorry I'll try harder”

His father sighed “I don't think you get it, why _are_ you're grades so bad anyway?”

Michael shrugged, not able to think of a suitable excuse.

“Maybe it's that new boy you're hanging about with, Jim said Josh thought he was an idiot probably a bad influence, what was it?, Gareth?”

“Gavin” Michael mumbled

“Speak up”

“It's Gavin and he's hardly new I've known him for over a month”

“He's from England right?, staying with that boss of yours”

“That's correct”

“No wonder He's a bad influence, staying with people you hardly know, in a country you know nothing about, foreigners hardly mean anything but trouble, even if they can speak the language”

“He's smarter than me” Michael said, trying to make Gavin seem in anyway better.

“Is that so, well at the moment I don't think that’s much of a grand title to hold”

“Dear please, he's trying his best” Michael looked at his mom and sent her a mental thank you for defending him

“Yes, but I don't think that's good enough he'll never get into an acceptable college at this rate”

The relentless flow of questions and lectures from his father had taken him over an hour to escape from and it had drained all his energy.

Michael laid back on his bed and thought of the trip the escape hadn't lasted long enough, he wanted to stay in that house forever with his friends, living happy and carefree, but he was back and the reality of his life came back and hit him.

A lonely feeling suddenly overcame him and he reached for his phone to text Gavin.

_M: Hows the leg??_

_G: less red and less swollen less pain_

_M:good so it wasn't broken_

_G: nah_

_M:ready 4 2morrow?_

_G:not at all u?_

_M: same_

Their conversation lasted just about as long as the one with his father had but this one was ten hundred times more enjoyable and would've lasted longer if Michael hadn't fallen asleep.

 

 


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's late, thanks for the patience!

Getting up and going to school that day was by no means an easy feat. Michael was both mentally and physically exhausted from the previous weeks and school did not seem like a welcoming prospect.

He didn't want to spend time with his 'friend' Josh. He didn't want to go through the day knowing he'd have to do double the amount of homework. He especially didn't want another day of being nervous about Josh revealing his secret.

Michael was in English, a sleeping Ray beside him, taking notes that made little sense. He couldn't concentrate, two girls behind him wouldn't shut up and it was beginning to get on his nerves. He had never been a very patient person and if the chattering of these girls lasted much longer he was going to lose it.

After their conversation had dragged on another ten minutes Michael decided to ask them to stop he sighed and turned around "Can you please be quiet?, I'm trying to listen" he said it very calmly, masking his anger completely.

Their reply was a mass of giggles and laughter that threw Michael over the edge "Will you just shut the fuck up" he spat

"Michael I will not allow such language in my class, detention after school"

He rolled his eyes and faced forward. Great.

"I didn't know they were like that" One of them whispered

"Tara and Diana, If you do not stop talking I will have to give you detention too"

Michael was thankful that the girls had finally stopped talking, but he couldn't help but wonder who were 'they'?.

All throughout the day Michael heard the whispers of people behind him. He saw them looking at him and laughing. He couldn't figure out why, he had checked his hair multiple times. There wasn't anything strange or different about him today, it just like any other day, so what was going on?.

This question  _was_ answered but the answer was something Michael wished had never happened. Something he wished he'd never heard. It happened while he was walking down the hall.

"Faggot!"

It made his stomach lurch, was it directed at him?, but Josh was around so it couldn't be, he kept walking.

"Faggot!"

Michael looked over his shoulder.

"Yeah, you Jones over here" It was Reece Carson, another friend of Josh's "I heard About your little secret, you sick fuck"

At first Michael felt confusion, how did he know?. Then he felt anger, It had been Josh. Then he felt fear, His dad would find out.

All the boys began to crowd around him and Michael began to fear for his life. Things like this always happened to people like him.

They formed a tight circle around him. not giving any room to escape. They started to push him between each other.

"Fag"

"Cocksucker"

Their slurs quickly evolved into more terrible insults. Their pushing became more intense. Michael couldn't fight back. A dull pain throbbed in his shoulders.

"Stop, hey stop!"

Brett shoved Michael to the floor and turned to face the speaker. It was Gavin. "Little gay-vin come to save his boyfriend, Didn't know you were a fag too"

Gavin ignored him. He crouched at Michaels side and tried to help him up. He struggled to help him, his foot still being injured.

"What does it matter if he's gay?"Gavin asked scowling at the boys and Michael smiled weakly, If he knew Gavin's reaction to his secret would be this he would've told him long ago.

"Shut it, free" Reece said, lifting his hands to push them both, but suddenly stopped when the principal rounded the corner.

"Later faggots"Brett said, they quickly disappeared from the scene.

Michael and Gavin made their way to a nearby seat and sat down. He was getting angry again, his annoyance toward Josh growing by the second.

"I guess that's why you were doing his homework" Gavin laughed lightly, very unsure of what to say or do.

"What a fucking dick" he seethed.

Gavin only nodded. Why had he trusted Josh?. Why had Josh betrayed this trust?. What could he gain from it?. Michael stood up abruptly and set a course for the locker room.

Gavin, realising Michael's intent, said "Don't, it's not worth it" but Michael ignored him and barrelled ahead, leaving Gavin behind standing all alone in an empty hallway.

It didn't take long for Michael to burst through the doors of the locker room the only inhabitant being Josh himself.

"How could you do this to me!" Michael yelled at Josh, his face red with anger.

"Do what?, Jones" Josh asked looking extremely confused at his outburst

"What do you mean?, You told everyone my secret!"

crease formed between Josh's eyebrows "I didn't, I swear, I may be an asshole but I'd never do that"

"Who else could?, why?  _Why?_ I did everything you said, I did all that work, I did _everything"_ Tears began to form in his eyes "Why?" he shouted, pushing Josh roughly backwards.

"Michael..I-"

"Fuck you josh, Fuck you!"

Josh Grabbed him by the shoulders and pressed him against the locker, he leant down and kissed him gently and kindly, Immediately Michael pushed him away. He was more confused than ever.

"It wasn't me, Michael, I wouldn't do this to you"

He stared into josh's eyes and he believed him. His eye's were sincere and they seemed to exude the truth. Michael slumped down onto the bench behind him, it was all too much. He placed his head in his hands and let out a few tears. Josh sat beside him, a supportive hand on his back.

"I'm sorry" Josh whispered and hesitantly said "I told Brett a few weeks ago, to see how he'd react. I wanted to know what he'd say if he knew I liked guys too" He sighed "It wasn't pretty" he paused again "I thought I had convinced him to keep quiet"

"I understand, but why Brett?"

"He's my best friend, or was, I guess" Josh swallowed then asked "You won't tell, will you?"

Michael shook his head. no matter what Josh had done he couldn't bring himself to hate him. It would be cruel to have him suffer too. He was also in a similar situation, both of their dads detested them unknowingly.

"I didn't mean anything I said, you know. I just repeated what my dad...you get it"

Michael stood up and headed for the door, Everything feeling a little more hopeless than before.

"Gavin's a lucky guy" Josh said, his smug grin turned into a genuine smile that succeeded in warming Michael's heart a little.

"Thanks" He replied, although he thought he was the lucky one.

Michael skipped out on detention and made his way home slowly. He had to tell his dad before he found out another way. Whether or not he was going to leave his house alive he didn't know, But it was something that must be done.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 20 woooo  
> It's probably going to end in five-six chapters, probably, I never know what comes up

Michael's hand hovered over the door handle. He didn't want to go in, he wanted to turn around and run. Run and never come back, to hide from his life. Hide from himself, but things don't work like that in real life.

His fingers curled around the handle and he squeezed it until his fingers turned white. He let himself in and headed for the dining room, he sat down and got his thoughts together.

He would call them in and sit them down and then...and then he'd tell them, straight out, no long drawn out explanation. Quick and to the point. It'd be easier that way.

"Mom" he called "Dad" When they arrived his mom looked worried and his dad annoyed, he gestured to the seats across from him and he sat too.

He started wringing his hands, His heart was beating so hard he could hear it. He was scared. Terrified.

"Michael, what is this about, I have work to do" his dad said

"I-I just have something to say to you"he paused again. The words he'd prepared were caught in his throat.

His father sighed loudly "Get on with it"

"I'm...I'm g" He felt his insides constrict. He couldn't finish

"You're what?, Is it your grades again, I told you-"

"No, I'm gay"

"What?"

"I'm gay, dad"

"Take that back" his face was stony

Michael was confused "what do you mean?"

"You're not gay"

"I wouldn't lie about this, dad"

"I'll give you one last chance" he

"I like guys, I'm gay"

His father stood up. He walked calmly around the table. He raised his hand into the air and brought it down across Michaels face with all the force he could muster, sending him flying off the side of the chair.

"Get your things and get out. I don't have a son." he didn't shout. He didn't say it with anger in his voice. He said it with an icy indifference that made Michael feel like he had his heart sliced from his chest.

His mother who had sat there, her mouth gaping, decided now was the time to speak "Dear, we don't have to throw him out, he's our son, He's our little boy" she said, her voice wavering. she was on the verge of tears.

"We don't  _have_  a son"

She burst into tears. Michael stared at his father his cheek stinging. "But I...dad? Really?"

"Yes,  _really_ , get  _out_ of my house, I  _never_ want to see your face again" he was angry this time. His face turning red and the vein on his head bulging out.

He hopped to his feet and ran upstairs, frantically shoving all the clothes he could get his hands on into an empty gym bag.

"Honey" His mom walked in, her eyes already puffy from crying "do you need any help?"

Michael shook his head, which now throbbed terribly on the right side.

"I'm sorry, I tried to make him see reason" she wiped her eyes and began to fold clothes for him there was silence between them for only a matter of minutes before his mother broke it "Have you tried  _not_  being gay?"

He nodded "yes" This answer seemed to shock her.

"How long have you..."

"Been gay?, all my life I suppose. I just didn't realise it until...recently"

"I want you to know I still love you, but I love your father too" His mother stood there looking weak and scared, not for herself but for him. Michael stepped forward and hugged her tightly, It wasn't her fault his dad was an ignorant ass hole.

She left the room whispering an almost silent goodbye. Now he was alone. his father had rejected him and his mother was powerless against him.

Michael put his school bag on his back and grabbed the other in his walked slowly down the stairs taking in the homely smell of his mothers cooking one last time. He reached the front door wondering if he'd ever come back.

"He's a freak, a god-damned disgrace, a fucking sin!" he heard his father shout

"we can't just let him out on the streets"

"Yes. we. can."he said firmly

And with that he was gone, down the street around the corner. He sat on a rocky wall in a nearby park and thought about what to do next. He needed a place to stay, somewhere to sleep. He got out his phone and skimmed through the contacts. He thought long and hard about who to ask for help, ultimately deciding Geoff would be the best person to talk to. At times of crisis you're supposed to speak to an adult you trusted and he was exactly that.

He called the number and held the phone nervously at his ear.

"Hello buddy, what's up?" His voice was friendly and happy

"I, uh, I need a little help"

"Michael are you okay?"

Tears started to form in his eyes and his voice wobbled as he said "No"

"What happened?"

Michael bit his lip " he..he kicked me out, I told my dad I was gay and he threw me out"

"Where are you ?"

"A park by my house" the phone cut off and a few minutes later Geoff's car pulled up next to him.

He got out of the car swiftly and was at his side in a moment.

"I came as soon as I could" he gave him a strange look then asked "Did he hit you?"

he nodded, Geoff spread his arms wide open "c'mere" Michael dropped his bag and clung onto Geoff's shirt, burying his face in the fabric. He cried silent tears.

"It's ok" Geoff whispered rubbing his back soothingly. "let it out"

They stood there until Michael had calmed down and Geoff drove home. When they arrived back Geoff helped Michael carry his things upstairs.

"You'll be in with Gavin, he set up an inflatable mattress for you"

"I'm sorry"

"Don't worry about it, you can stay here as long as you need to"

Geoff left him outside the door and Michael took a breath and went in "hey Gavin"

Gavin stood up, he had been putting sheets on the inflatable mattress. "Hey Michael, I hope you like your new-" he walked up and examined his face "Is your cheek okay?"

"It hurts but not as much as earlier"

"Are you alright?"

"I'm a little better now I'm here" Michael smiled, he felt safe there.

"I'm glad you're here but I'm really sorry about how everything turned out, It was a terrible thing for Josh to do"

"It wasn't him"

"Then who?"

"It was Brett"

"Ah, makes sense"

They played video games to cheer him up, but his heart wasn't in it, He didn't yell at Gavin once. Geoff even cooked one of Michaels favourite foods but he couldn't properly enjoy it, though he tried his best to pretend to.

Later when they were in bed Michael began to feel lonely. He knew his dad wouldn't like it but to hit him then kick him out. He hugged his duvet to him. He snuggled up in the fetal position. He wanted to cry again but didn't, he was too emotionally drained for that.

"Michael"

"Yeah Gavin"

"It's all gonna be okay" he whispered "I promise you"

"Thanks Gav" even though he knew there was nothing he could possibly do to make the situation with his father any better, it was still comforting to know that he cared.


	21. Chapter 21

Michael's stirred from his sleep slowly, perturbed by the unfamiliar sound of Gavin's alarm. His brain tried to ignore it, using it as background noise to a dream he was losing, one that was beginning to slip away

"Michael" Gavin's voice cut through this state of uneasy dreaming and Michael woke mind seemed to be clouded in a misty confusion and he felt an empty sickness in his stomach. He sat upright and dizziness hit him like a brick.

His head hit his pillow but it wasn't long before he was up again. He groaned loudly and began vomiting, his stomach pulled inwards and he emptied bile all over himself. From beside him Gavin dry-heaved and got to his feet running out of the room before Michael had finished. Geoff came in a moment later with a pile of towels, a bucket, and a bottle of water.

He flopped down onto his pillow; sweaty and weakened by the whole ordeal. Geoff held him up and handed him the bucket, it wasn't of any use though, it was over. His health wasn't the problem, he wasn't sick. This was a physical reaction to all the stress, anxiety and sadness he'd been through.

Michael breathed heavily, taking in gulps of air, trying to refresh his system. Geoff rubbed his back while using his other hand to start clearing up the mess. He took a sip of water and swished it around his mouth, washing away the bitter acidic taste of puke away.

"Sorry"Michael said breathlessly

"Don't worry"

Michael was exhausted, more exhausted than he had ever been in his entire life. He slowly changed his shirt and , with a little help from Geoff, crawled into Gavin bed, letting himself fall into a deep sleep that his body had been craving for a long time.

Hours later Michael awoke bewildered, He didn't know where he was, But it quickly came flooding back to him. the moonlight lay across the bed and it made Michael wonder how long he' been asleep.

He peered around and spotted Gavin sitting in a chair in a far corner, the light from his phone illuminating his face.

"Hey Gavin" he said, sitting up.

Gavin jumped "You're awake!, are you okay?"

Michael smiled, he was okay. He felt refreshed. "yeah I am"

"Sorry I left you earlier, I really can't handle" he shivered at the memory "stuff like that"

"I don't blame you, it was awful"

Gavin got up and slipped into the bed beside him. "Does your cheek still hurt?..Its all blue and purple"

Michael raised his fingers to his face pressing in gently on it, he winced at the touch.

"I'll take  _that_ as a firm yes" Laughed Gavin "you hungry?"  
Suddenly Michael realised he was way past hungry, he was ravenous. "I really am"

"Wait here" he hopped out of the bed and rushed out of the room, reappearing five minutes later with a steaming plate of fried rice and various vegetables. He placed the meal on Michael's lap handing him a metal fork and taking his spot next to him.

"Where'd you get this? Michael asked, surprised.

"Geoff made it for dinner, I just heated it up"

Michael grabbed the fork and wolfed the food down, eating with gusto. occasionally he made small noises of approval. Once he had finished the entire plate, making sure to lick it clean, he put the plate aside and sat back. He was content.

"Thanks by the way" Michael said, remembering he hadn't said it before.

"It's okay"

"Can we go for a walk?"

Gavin looked confused as t why he'd want to go walking at this time of the night but he nodded and grinned "of course we can" he pulled his shoes on and Michael did the same.

"We're going for a walk Geoff!"Gavin called on their way out of the door

"Don't be out too late alright?, there's school tomorrow"

"Okay, we'll be back soon" he turned to Michael "so, where to?"

"Anywhere"

And that's where they went, walking and talking, they let their legs take them away, down twisting roads and suspicious alleyways. Nothing seemed to phase them. The moon shone bright and strong, it lit up the whole world around them. Eventually they stooped next to a large creaking oak tree, in a park they didn't know the name or location of and they laid down near it, watching the stars like they had done a few weeks before.

"It's so...big" Gavin whispered, his arm outstretched towards the star laden sky, his eyes wide with appreciation and spectacular wonder.

Michael watched Gavin and felt his heart begin to beat faster, and suddenly nothing mattered except him.

"I need to tell you something" Michael said, he propped himself up on his elbow "something very important"

Gavin mirrored Michael and said "I already know remember"

"No you don't, I haven't told you yet"

"Brett told everyone you're gay, how could you forget?"

Michael laughed "Not that gav"

"Oh, sorry, what is it"

"Well, uhh" he blushed a deep red and hoped the darkness would cover it "I...like you Gavin"

"I like you too Michael. we didn't really get on at the start though, You were  _really_  stubborn and a bit of and "

"And you were annoying and I- that's not what I meant" He paused, he was going to sound like a ten year old girl saying it but he did anyway "I  _like_  like you, I want to date you kind of like"

"Oh"

"Yeah" Michael lied back down and looked to the sky, he breathed a sigh of relief. All his secrets were out, he didn't have anything to hide any more. He only hoped that Gavin would continue to be his friend.

Michael heard movement from beside him and seconds later Gavin was over him, his hair flopping down over his face "you didn't wait for reply to that little confession" He smirked the he looked serious "I li _ke_  like you too" He brought his face down closer to Michael's and they closed their eyes. Gavin pressed his lips softly onto Michael's, His hands went up to Gavin's head and ran his fingers through his hair. They slowly sat up continuing their impassioned movements. Their noses brushed against each other as they moved their heads. Michael bit at Gavin's lip gently, he could taste a hint of orange flavoured lip-balm. They parted naturally, undisturbed.

They put their foreheads together and began to laugh in pure bliss. Michael wrapped his arms around him and squeezed. "I  _really_  like you" Gavin squeezed back "And I  _really_  like you"

"Boyfriends" Gavin shouted into the night.

Their fingers intertwined as they made their way back home, Michael didn't think he'd ever be this happy after what had happened just a day ago, but he knew it wouldn't last long so he tightened his grip on Gavin and smiled, He'd enjoy it for now.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lateness school has been hectic!

School the next day was tough for Michael. He hated the constant and seemingly permanent flow of whispers that was always one step behind him. He especially hated the sudden halt in conversation when he turned a corner or entered a room. Did they think he was stupid?. Michael glared at them like he used to in middle school, but instead of inciting fear in them it resulted in a mass of giggles if it was a group of girls, or a mocking glare back, complete with floppy hand gesture, if it was a group of guys.

He refused to let Gavin show and type of public affection towards him, for fear that he'd be the subject of people's bitter judgement as-well. Gavin didn't like this one bit, he insisted he didn't care what they said or thought. Michael didn't doubt this but he also knew what it felt like to be scrutinised in such a manner and he didn't want Gavin to ever know.

Michael did, however, allow him to voice his feelings as long as this was done in a whisper or on paper. What Gavin mostly did was insult him but in a voice that implied anything but.

Ray and Lindsay had, of course, been told. Michael had gone over to them excited to see the look on their faces when he told them, but they had reacted in a way that Michael hadn't expected. Which was not in any way surprised.

"Finally" Lindsay had said sighing, a wide smile growing on her face.

"Dude that's great" Ray said giving him a casual pat on the back.

Their reaction had confused him greatly. Had it been so obvious that Gavin liked him back?, he was normally so empathetic towards others. Maybe he had been too invested in his own set of circumstances that he'd been blinded from the things going on around him.

The end of school bell couldn't come sooner, He had been looking forward to walking home with Gavin since the day had begun, but this had meant the day had dragged on all the more.

"Ready?" Gavin asked

"Ready." Michael confirmed

They walked closely together , happily laughing and enjoying the day, and waited before they were out of sight to link their hands.

"Shitty day, right gav?"

"Right" He agreed "Clouds everywhere, I thought it was supposed to be all sunshine and rainbows when a couple got together"

"Yeah, and school went on for ten years"

Gavin nodded "It took for-EVER, I swear I've never had a school day that lasted longer"

"And in maths ms-"

"Dammit" Gavin said, backing away from Michael and searching through his bag.

"What?"

"I left my maths book in my locker, I have to get it" he turned back around the corner shouting "Wait there!"

Michael groaned softly and leaned against the wall. He was in a smallish alleyway, litter strewn everywhere. There was a terrible smell emanating from a large trash can near him. after a while a bad feeling began to work its way into his stomach and he hoped Gavin would be back soon.

"Jones"

Michael knew without looking that it was Brett. He rolled his eyes and turned towards him. Brett sauntered down the alleyway closely followed by Reece and another Jock called Trent, they were holding back a struggling Josh, covering his mouth, restraining him.

"Where's Gavin?" He queried, now worried.

Brett smirked "We saw him go, all the better for us really, less witnesses, less chance of a snitch"

Michael was relived that Gavin was safe but was now scared for himself "What do you want with me?"

"Josh told us that you kissed him and now you're gonna' get what you deserve"

"I didn't kiss him, he kissed me just ask him"

"I've heard his story, and it's your fault, you tricked him into thinking it was him but it was you. I know it was you, Josh wouldn't" He scrunched up his nose in disgust " He wouldn't."

"It wasn't him, Brett please" He cried "It was me, It was me, I kissed him-"

"Shut him up Trent, he's confused. " his mouth was recovered and the attention was back on Michael.

Before he knew it Brett's right fist had connected solidly with his jaw and he stumbled to the side his hands going up in reaction to the sudden pain. Michael stood straight brushing it off, he could take a hit. He threw his bag aside and he held his fists up, he assumed a fighting stance.

"Its pointless" he laughed "I took kick-boxing for three years"

Michael swung at Brett's face, landing a good punch that threw him off for a moment. His second swing was caught, with a thud, in Brett hand and his face no longer held any semblance of mockery. His punches became harder and he pummelled Michael, wailing on him repeatedly. Michael felt helpless, he couldn't do a thing. Brett was stronger, taller and faster. He grunted trying his best to internalise the pain surging through his head and upper body. He tried to push him off but he wouldn't stop.

"You're scum, Jones, scum" He took hold of Michael's shoulders and held him still, he pulled him swiftly down, driving his knee into Michael stomach. He fell to his knees, his lungs empty. He tried desperately to take in a breath, but it wouldn't come. The air seemed far away, his mind began to go blurry.

Brett gripped a handful of Michael's hair and hauled it upwards. Michael took in a high-pitched laboured breath that made an awful noise. Brett pulled Michael towards him then threw his head into the wall. He felt a warm trickle of blood flow down his neck into his shirt.

"So Gay's bleed red too, interesting"

He fell to the floor. Failing his weak attempt to hold his arms out. The tiny stones that littered the alleyway dug into the delicate freckle-spotted skin on his face. His arms lay limp and grazed at his side. His breathing was weak and fading.

He was barely conscious. Blood Ran down his forehead and into his eyes obstructing his vision. He could hear the seemingly distant muffled screams and cries coming from Josh.

"Don't touch my friend you sick fuck!, you keep your damn faggot hands off him you- you-"

Michael felt a sharp blow at the side of his head and everything was black.


	23. Chapter 23

Josh watched, his eye's open wide in attempt to see through the tears pouring out. His throat burned. This was torture for him. He had to witness this, the beating of someone he held so dear and he couldn't do a thing.

"Don't touch my friend you sick fuck!, you keep your damn faggot hands off him you- you-"

Josh screamed into Reece's hand again while Brett brutally kicked Michael in the face. He was on the floor unmoving.

"Brett that's enough" He heard Trent say.

He ignored him and stamped down hard onto Michaels hand, sending a bone-chilling crack into the air. He proceeded to kick him in the ribs, Brett was breathing heavily now, exhausted from the effort it had taken to beta him. He brought his leg back to kick again.

"Brett stop!, he's gonna' fucking die!" Trent shouted.

Brett stopped, straightening his shirt and stepping away. He grabbed Michael by the forearms and dragged him behind the trash-can. "Back where you belong" He laughed

"Lets go" He said. He turned his back on the boy he had beaten bloody.

They hauled Josh away, he kicked and screamed. He craned his neck to see Michael as long as possible. "I'm sorry"He cried. He couldn't get free.

* * *

 

Rain started to pour heavily as he made his way back. He tried to be as quick as possible fearing Michaels reaction if he were to be left in this weather for a long time.

"Michael?"He asked the empty alleyway. A sudden feeling of fear gripped his stomach when he saw his abandoned bag by the wall.

He saw red on the wall and he ran his fingers along it, it wasn't paint.

"Blood" He whispered "Michael!" He shouted. He looked frantically all around him, hoping for a sign of him. There was a faint trail of the blood on the ground, most of it hand been washed away, he followed it behind the trash-can.

He saw Michaels body lying flat and still before him.

"Michael...Michael?"He touched his head gently, his hair was sticky and darkened with rain and blood, he stared at the red liquid on his trembling hand.

His familiar face had become distorted with swelling and already visible bruises. The bones in his hand stuck out at odd angles. Gavin began to shake uncontrollably, silent tears fell and were wiped away by the rain.

Gavin plunged his hand into his pocket and retrieved his phone, he tried to type in the numbers but his hand wouldn't stay still. "Come on" he said, slapping his face. He gained some composure and dialled 911.

"911, what is the nature of your emergency?" asked a clear voice

"I need an ambulance, Michael's been beaten up, he needs help"

"Okay, where is the emergency"

"Uhhm" Gavin hit a blank, he didn't know, he hopped to his feet and ran to search for road signs. His eyes whipped about, taking in everything. He spotted one "Elm, Elm street across from an orange building, it's an office building"

"Alright they're on their way, I'm going to need you to stay calm okay?"

"Okay" Gavin said nodding, He rushed back to Michaels side.

"Don't hang up until they get there"

"I won't"He took his hoodie off and spread it over him as protection from the downpour.

"What happened exactly?"

"I don't know, I don't know I left and when I came back he was...I don't know..."Gavin's face crumpled "Please be okay" He whispered

"what was that?" Gavin heard the sirens blaring and hung up, he ran the alleyway's entrance and stood there. When it came down the street he waved his arms calling "Here, here!"

The ambulance came to a halt in front of him, a group of paramedics got out. "Where's the patient?" A female one asked. Gavin led them to where Michael lay and he collapsed onto the ground.

"Sir I'm going to need you to give me a little space" He shuffled back and she began to check Michaels vitals.

"Sir, look at me"he looked at the paramedic

"I think you're in shock, will you come with me"

"B-but you need to help Michael"

"He's in good hands" Gavin glanced over, he was right, Michael was surrounded by paramedics who were assessing his condition. They were calling out medical terms to each other which only made Gavin worry all the more.

"Come with me" he helped Gavin up and led him to the ambulance. "get in there for me will you"

he did as told and hopped in.

The paramedic put an insulated blanket around Gavin and left to tend to Michael, they came bake and brought out the wheeled stretcher. Moment later they were back again this time with Michael's body on it. Everyone got in and they were off again.

The paramedics continued to discuss Michael's condition in phrases that Gavin didn't understand. He stared and Michaels face and ignored the hustle and bustle going on around him. He blocked out the siren that rung through his ears. He forgot that he was freezing cold. He was focused and thought of only Michael.

They stopped and the paramedics leaped into action, bursting through the doors and pulling the stretcher out. Gavin ran after them following closely.

They ran through a maze of corridors until they came to a pair of double doors labelled "Intensive care unit". And he was stopped.

"You can't go in there unless you're family"One of them said in a firm voice

"B-but Michael, I need to know if he's okay" He watched desperately as he was being wheeled further and further away.

"look kid, are you family?"

"No, I'm his boyfriend, please..Please" Gavin begged

"I'm sorry, I can't let you through, I can let you know that he's not dead" He followed the others, leaving Gavin alone.

He stood at the doors for a while then slumped slowly over to the waiting area and fell into a chair. "He's alive, it's going to be okay"

He buried his face in his hands and fat tears began to fall from his eyes. He shoulders started to shake as Gavin thought "what if he doesn't live?"


	24. Chapter 24

Gavin drew in a deep choppy breath and wiped his eyes. He reached for a tissue and blew his nose. He sat there for a while then He called Geoff, deciding someone should know.

"Hello?"

"What is it Gavin?, I'm busy, It's swamped here" He could hear the noise in the background

"I'm at the hospital "

"What!?, are you okay?, What happened?"

"I'm fine, Geoff, totally fine" He bit his lip preventing tears "Michael's in the I.C.U he's hurt bad, really bad, someone beat him half to death. There was so much blood."He paused, the scene running through his mind again "I thought...I thought he was dead, Geoff, dead"

"Oh god, I'll get Jack to cover me and I'll be down in a half hour"

Geoff hung up and Gavin let his phone drop onto his lap, it slid to the floor and Gavin ignored didn't matter. He stared at the doors to the I.C.U blankly, imagining what it would be like if Michael were to stroll through those doors right then and there. They opened and he jumped, foolish false hope rising in his chest then immediately dissipating when the paramedic he'd spoken to earlier came out He sat down beside Gavin and started to ask questions.

"what's your name?" He said with a calm smile

"Gavin Free"

"And his?"

"Michael Jones"

"And his parents?"

"He doesn't live with them, they threw him out and now he lives with me and Geoff"

He nodded slowly "do you have a way to contact his parents, I'm required to let them know where he is"

Gavin shook his head, they didn't deserve to know "I don't but Michael's phone is probably in one of his pockets"

He nodded again and took off heading back into the I.C.U.. He didn't return.

"Gavin!" Geoff called, running towards him. Gavin got up and walked up to him. He wrapped his arms around him. Gavin felt his eyes begin to sting with tears, but he held it back, he'd had enough of that.

Geoff let Gavin go slowly and walked over to the information desk "Excuse me, is there any way we can get into the I.C.U?"

"Are you the father or the brother of any of the patients sir?"

"No, but I'm the guardian of one, Michael Jones"

"I'm sorry we can't let you through, we're waiting for his parents to arrive"

Geoff looked Irked by this but refrained from reacting angrily "Well can we at least know what's going on?"

"No I can't tell you anything, the parents decide what you know"

Geoff's hands gripped the desk tightly "that's bullshit" He muttered "I've known this boy for years, his parents threw him out less than a week ago, I'm the one taking care of him!"

"There's nothing I can do, now if you'll excuse me I have other matters to attend to"

He turned around and took a seat. The wait for Michael's parent was agonizing minutes seemed to take hours. What made it even worse was the constant string of pop songs that played in the background.

Suddenly Michael's mother burst through the door and rushed to the information desk "I'm his mom , Michael Jones', oh god is he okay?" Her hair was messy ,her clothes were wrinkled and her mascara running.

"Calm down ma'am, I'll be back in just a minute" she rushed down through to the I.C.U.

Geoff stood up "Mrs Jones?"

she jumped "Mr Ramsey?, are you here for Michael too?"

"Yes, he's been staying at my house for the past few days"

"Thank you" she said "I was so worried about him, then I got this call and I..I"she shed a few tears and quickly wiped them away. "do you know anything?"

"I know he's alive" Gavin said quietly

"They wouldn't tell us any more than that, apparently it's not allowed without family here" Geoff added

"I'll make sure you know everything, Okay?"

"this way ma'am" The information desk lady called from the doors.

They waited for a further half hour before Michael's mother came back out, looking much worse than she had before.

She looked at them with tears brimming. She sat down opposite Geoff and tried to compose herself, she sniffed and wiped for another ten minutes before she could say anything.

"The good news is that he's alive and stable-"

"And the bad news?" Gavin asked before she could finish.

"Give her time Gavin"

"He's" a crease formed between her eyebrows and she took a long deep breath "He's in a coma ad they're not sure if he'll ever wake up."

"What?"Gavin said, not believing her

"Whoever it was that did this injured his head really bad and he's sunk into a coma" She shook her head "My baby, what if that horrible thing will be the last thing his father ever says to him"

"Why isn't he here now?, does he even care if Michael dies!"Gavin asked angrily

"Gavin!" Geoff warned

"He's on a business trip" she said and then she sighed and her voice began to wobble"Though you're probably right I don't think he would've come if he had been here" She shook her head again "He wouldn't wish death on him though I'm sure of that"

"Enough of that" Geoff said "What else is wrong?"

"His left hand is completely broken, smashed, someone stamped on it. He had three broken ribs and some fractured ones, thankfully his legs and spine are fine and the doctor said the levels of internal bleeding aren't life threatening"

"That's it" Gavin said "can't we see him"

"No"she replied "I asked, it's not allowed, even I only got a glimpse. They did say we can visit when his condition is better."

Gavin stood up "That's not good enough" he muttered, he started to run away he wanted out of this stupid hospital, to be as far away as possible.

"Gavin!" Geoff called

Gavin walked for hours and hours until he came to the park where they had first kissed, he fell to his knees in front of the huge tree and stared up at its twisting branches. It was dark now and the low light made it mysterious. He laid back and gazed up at the stars.  _Michael should be here _he thought. It wasn't fair.


	25. Chapter 25

Gavin came ambling home in the early hours of the morning, when the sky was bathed in a glowing pale sunlight. He struggled up the stairs and collapsed into his bed. He nuzzled into the sheets his tired eyes closing heavily. He sniffed deeply, it smelled of Michael.

"Gavin, wake up" a gentle voice whispered. He rubbed his eyes lazily as Griffon's face came into focus.

"I'm going to the hospital now, to visit Michael, are you coming or...?"

Gavin blinked, stretched and yawning said "I'm coming"

"Are you sure" she asked sounding worried "You were out really late last night and I don't want you to wear yourself-"

"I'm coming" he insisted, sitting up.

"Alright" she replied, heading for the door "meet me out in the car"

Gavin swung his legs off the bed and pushed on the shoes he had carelessly kicked off a few hours ago. He joined Griffon in the car, still in yesterdays clothes.

"You didn't change?"

He looked at her , his eyes drooping "It doesn't matter"

he dozed the whole way there but by the time the were at the doors of the I.C.U he was wide awake and ready.

"This way" the nurse said softly, opening the doors "And be quiet" she gave Gavin a warning glance as if she expected him to kick up a fuss. She led them down the hallway and stopped at a corner and spoke again "I want to warn you that his appearance may be quite shocking, so please don't overreact" she peered at the wall for a second, like she was remembering an incident from the past . Her head whipped back to face them "the last thing I need to say is  _do not_ touch him "

Finally she turned the corner and opened a door to her left, before he even entered Gavin saw a glimpse of Michael through a large window.

There were bandages wrapped around his head, a red splotch of blood showed faintly. His face was almost unrecognisable. The area surrounding his right eye bulged, completely blocking it. Small scratches and cuts were scattered across his face. Dark purple-blue bruises covered Most of his body. There were splints on each finger on his right hand, each digit bar the thumb bound tightly. Two pipes were protruding from his feeble looking body, one went into his mouth and the other into the vein on his wrist.

Gavin sat down next to Michael, pulling his chair in as close as he could. He reached out his hand to touch him but quickly brought it down again, gripping his knees.

Griffon stood awkwardly at the door shuffling between her feet. She felt like she was intruding on something she couldn't quite put her finger on. After a minute of this she stepped out quietly, her absence went unnoticed by Gavin who was immersed in Michaels presence.

He sat there in complete silence until it was rudely broken when a very distressed Josh stumbled in, his face too was bruised but significantly less so.

"Michael" He said "Gavin, is he okay?"

"He's alive if that's what you mean" He spat

Josh pulled up a chair next to Gavin "I didn't do this" he said calmly "It was Brett, I spoke to the police yesterday, they were arrested and everything-"

"how do you know it was them?"

He stared at the floor"I..I was there" he put a hand over his mouth "It was..They wouldn't let me...I had to watch, Gavin"

"Why?" They made eye contact "Why did they do this?"

"Because I kissed him and-"

"You what?"

"Yeah, that day he came storming into the locker room, anyway, I was telling Brett that I liked Michael and what I did and how he should stop being a dick" he paused shaking his head "I was an idiot to think that'd go well"

"What happened then?"

"Brett got angry and said I was delusional and wouldn't talk to me until Yesterday when they came up to me after school and told me their plan, naturally I protested do they restrained me and... went about their work"

"They?, who else was there?"

"Trent and Reece, I'm glad Trent was there, if he wasn't I'm sure Michael would be..." he shook his head again, getting rid of this thought.

Gavin nodded and they fell into a peculiar silence that felt both tense and comfortable. They stayed like this until Ray and Lindsay burst in, their faces full of worry. The situation was re-explained to them, with a few tears and they returned to quiet. A while later Griffon tentatively entered, informing them that Michaels parents were there and wanted to visit him alone.

"His dad's here?" Gavin asked, surprised

"yes"

They left the room Gavin's eyes lingered on Michael's face for as long as they could and when he turned they locked onto Michael's fathers. He looked ragged, his short brown-grey hair was sticking up at angles. He had dark bags underneath his eyes.

He nodded at Josh, ray and Lindsay respectively then faced Gavin "You're Michael's friend Gavin right?"

"Boyfriend" Gavin replied firmly, glaring at him.

He sighed "Can I talk to you?"

"If you're fine with being that close to a homosexual than I see no problem with it"

They walked to the waiting area and sat down opposite each other. Michael's dad wrung his hands nervously for a few moments before speaking to Gavin."I-I was angry when Michael came out"he stammered "I was really wrong" His jaw clenched

"No shit"

"My wife made me read up about his 'gay' thing on the internet and I think I understand better now, and I know that I can't ever really make things as they were" he put a hand to his face "The things I said to him, I can't believe I did that"

"You really hurt him, you know, I've never seem him so sad, you're an ass-hole"

He smiled weakly "I deserve that"

"You certainly do"

"I still don't fully understand him but I do know that I love him and I care"

"Are you sure? Really sure?, because if you ever do anything like that to him again me, Geoff, Griffon, Lindsay, Ray and Josh  _will_  fuck you up"

"I'm sure you will" He sighed again, leaning back into the chair "I'm grateful to all you did to help my son"

"You don't get to call him that"

His eyebrows furrowed "What?"

"Don't call him Your son,You don't have any right to. You have to wait until he wakes up then you can ask him if he accepts you as his dad again, because from what I've heard you pretty much disowned him"

He considered this for a second "Fair enough,I bet he hate's me"

Gavin watched the older man's distraught face and took pity on him "I don't like you"he said "and I probably won't ever, but I think Michael still likes you so just wait until he's back then tell him all of what you just told me and I'm sure whatever you shattered can be mended again"

"Thank you, My so- Michael sure made a good choice when picking a boyfriend"

"I'd like to think so"

They parted ways. Gavin hesitated to leave, wanting desperately to stay, but griffon managed to convince him to leave, promising that he could come back the next day.

That night he lay awake on his bed. he was full to the brim with a daunting feeling that this whole ordeal was only at it's beginning.


	26. Chapter 26

Gavin didn't attend school for an entire week, he would arrive at the hospital before visiting hours started and would stay until they finished. People came and went, his parents were there sometimes but they were busy so they came for a scheduled hour everyday. Ray, Lindsay and Josh would be there after school but always left early. No-one could stay in there when Gavin was there for very long, he exuded and intense feeling that made everyone else uncomfortable. In any case it was rather boring to sit there doing nothing, but Gavin didn't do nothing he would watch T.V or look at magazines but mostly he would watch videos on his phone.

After a week of being lenient Geoff and Griffon decided to convince Gavin to start going to school again, it wasn't as much of a battle as they presumed it to be. They were hesitant at first, fearing his reaction in his current mental state. Through their eyes he was unstable and irritable but when they confronted him about school he didn't fight back. He just said "Okay" and the next Monday morning he was up early had breakfast and went.

In truth Gavin didn't want to go but it wasn't worth the effort to fight back so he went. Throughout the day he was subjected to the same hushed whispers that Michael had experienced just a few days ago. It annoyed him and even worse it reminded him of the single happy day that they had gone to school as a secret couple, the day Michael had been... . He Didn't want to think about it.

"Hey, It's Gavin right?" A bottle-blonde girl said softly. Gavin recognised her immediately, she was Missy Jackson head cheerleader and boyfriend to the person that had nearly beaten Michael to death.

He nodded, cynically wondering if she was here to defend his actions "Yeah, that's me"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked, she peered around at the crowd then added "somewhere more private"

"Umm okay"

She led him to a more desolate space of the school and appearing rather nervous she looked up at Gavin and said "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about what Brett did" she began to rub at her eyes "I knew I'd cry, anyway, I was his girlfriend and I'm sorry for what he did, I don't believe it" She sniffed hard and took a deep breath "I just wanted to tell you because you were -are, sorry- his best friend" she nodded, like she'd completed her job.

Gavin sighed "Thank you, but he wasn't just my best friend, He was my boyfriend"

At that moment, much to the surprise of Gavin, she hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry it turned out like this, I really am" They parted a little awkwardly then she asked "Is your relationship still a secret or?"

Gavin smiled at her consideration "Nah" he said "I don't mind, Michael didn't want it public because he was afraid of what would happen to me" Gavin gave a weak laugh "Guess he should've been more careful about himself, huh?" he took a deep breath "anyway could you do me a favour please?"

She smiled widely then said "of course, whatever you need"

"Alright then,can you please ask your friends not to talk about us, Lindsay, Ray and me I mean, because it's really irritating to be whispered about all the time"

"I'll do my best"

And that was it no-one bothered them. She had a great influence on the entire school population and by Friday the whispers had ceased entirely, though they still got an occasional sympathetic look or an apology from one of the teachers. These annoyed Gavin, it made him ask why hadn't they done anything before, when it counted?, why didn't the teachers confront the Jocks when their stupid rumours were floating about. But the worst thing came at the end of the Day when the home bell had rung. He was alone with Ray walking solemnly down a hallway when he noticed a new poster. It had three boys on it with the heading "He's gay and that's Okay".Gavin stopped it front of it and all his feelings of resentment bubbled up.

"This is bullshit"He muttered

"What is?"

"Do you see this, what the fuck kind of difference is this going to make?" he shouted gesturing wildly at the three smiling boys "It's done now, he's in a coma and they decide that now is the time that shit like this should be done"

"At least some type of good is coming out of it"

"Is that what it took?, Michael to be beaten half to death!" he glared at it , ripped it off the billboard and tore it into four large pieces and let them flutter to the floor. He leaned against the wall and let himself slide slowly down. Then he brought his knees in tight and buried his head into them "It's just so fucking ridiculous"

Ray crouched down beside him silently and sat next to him until he had calmed down a little then he asked "What is this all really about?"

Gavin thought about this question for a minute. Was this about something else?, wasn't he just angry that nobody had helped Michael when he needed it the most. Then he realised, he lifted his head and whispered "I should've been there, I- why did I leave him alone?, it's my fault Ray, I shouldn't have ever left him alone in that stupid fucking alley... It's all my fault"

"Oh god Gavin, no" Ray said reaching his arms out and hugging the other boy "It's not your fault, Lindsay and I we feel the same guilt, and I know it'll never be as bad as yours, but we're in the same boat and it's okay but you have to know it wasn't your fault in any way, It wasn't you that beat him, it was that ass-hole Brett, you couldn't have stopped it, understand?"

"Yeah" he said "I understand"

They got up slowly and walked out the together "Thanks Ray"

"Any time"


	27. Chapter 27

Three and a half weeks, almost a month later. and Michael was still in the same state as before. There were, of course, minor changes in appearance. He no longer had bandages wound around his head. The swelling had gone down weeks ago and there was only small traces of bruising left, small scattered patches of yellow-green. Tiny scabs had formed over all the little cuts on his face and were healing well.

After all this time Gavin still visited daily, after school he would take the bus to the hospital stay there until visiting time was up and take the bus home. Even though he was unconscious Michaels mere presence always made him feel at ease.

"Will his hand work properly when it's healed" Gavin asked the doctor

"I'm not sure, there's a few displaced bones but they should come together fine" He sighed "But we can't say for sure until he wakes up"

"do you think he will?"  
The doctor smiled kindly at Gavin and said "yes, I believe he will"

"Thanks"

The doctor left and Gavin stared at Michaels hand and wondered if he'd ever be able to hold it again, if he'd ever be able to feel the warmth of Michaels palm against his.

When he got home that night Gavin felt slightly anxious, Brett, Trent and Reese's trial was on the next day and he wasn't looking forward to it. He only had a small piece to say but Josh, who over the past few weeks had become a regular member of their close-knitted group, had a lot to add to the proceedings. Michael's parents' lawyer, Mrs Stevenson, said that he had a vital part to play in getting the three accused sent to jail and compensation for hospital bills.

The night before was full of nervous worry and Gavin lay awake repeatedly going over his lines. Eventually he fell asleep and awoke hours later already tired. After breakfast Gavin put on his suit and stood in front of the mirror repeatedly doing his tie. Every time it would be offside or crooked, after a few more attempts he frustratedly gave up deciding that the slightly lopsided tie was a little better than the other tries.

He trudged down the stairs and joined Geoff in the car. His tattoos and the well-fitted suit he was wearing made him look like a crime boss.

"Nervous?" He asked starting up the engine

"Yeah a bit"

"Don't worry about it, they'll be locked up for sure"

I hope so

They met up with Josh outside the courthouse and greeted him warmly. He wasn't nervous at all, in fact, he looked excited.

"Are you looking forward to this?" Gavin asked

"Yeah, aren't you?, I mean we're finally going to put these assholes away, I know it'll only be juvie but still"

"yeah but what if they get off, what if-" At that moment a car pulled up and three boys walked out, First an angry looking Brett stomped out of the car and glared at anyone who dared make eye-contact. The Second person who appeared was Trent who's face was stony but his eyes were red, blood shot and brimming with a saddening look of guilt. The last boy who walked out was Reese who was crying openly, not about what he'd done but that he'd been caught.

"well" sighed Geoff "we'd better go in" They followed him inside and took their place behind Mrs. Stevenson and eventually it began.

There would be three trials a separate one for each of the boys and Brett was up first. The day was long, boring and most of all aggravating. Everything the other lawyer had to say made Gavin want to go and punch him. He had to convince himself over and over again that it was his job and everything he said was to set a seed of doubt among the jury, but by the way the trial was going Gavin was almost certain that he would be pronounced guilty.

"do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty" The judge asked

A Brunette woman who looked about forty stood up and said a little too loudly"We find the defendant guilty your honour"

Brett's reaction was immediate, his hands flew up to his face and he appeared distressed. His mother, who was sat in the audience seats began to weep and his father looked disappointed, probably more in the lawyer than his son.

"I therefore sentence the defendant to twelve months in juvenile detention and full restitution in the total amount of all hospital bills past and to come that have a connection to the incident, I also sentence a seven week anger-management program to be taken during his stay in the juvenile detention facility"

Gavin smiled he deserved everything he got.

One after another the boy's were proclaimed guilty, each with a different sentence. Reese got Three months in juvie and Trent only got a month due to Josh saying that if it wasn't for him Michael would be dead.

Reese like earlier had cried, and Trent was quiet and solemn he knew he was in the wrong and was going to take his punishment without complaint.

Before leaving Trent's mom who's face had mascara lines running down it handed him and envelope and said "Trent wanted me to give this to you if he was sent to Juvie"

He took it from her and shoved in his pocket without a word.

Gavin left happy with the events, but exhausted. Josh was ecstatic, saying he was glad that he'd been a witness because if he hadn't been then they'd never have been caught.

That night he pulled the envelope from his pocket and opened the letter inside.

_Dear Gavin,_

_I'm sorry. What Brett did was terrible. I knew it was wrong but I let him do it anyway. I was new and I wanted him to like me. I thought he was going to rough him up a bit, you know hit him a little. I didn't even know who Michael was or what he'd done until it was happening. If I knew Brett was going to do what he did I wouldn't have gone with him, actually I think I would've prevented it altogether._

_I know that I can't bring him out of a coma by saying this but I'm sorry, I really am. I think I'm going to Juvie but I deserve it. I hope I'm sent there . I hope the lawyer Brett has is shitty because I think he should be put away for a long time. He was a terrible person before he beat Michael and I think he'll always be._

_If you bothered to read this, thank you._

_Trent_

the writing was blurry in places making Gavin wonder if he'd been crying while writing this or if it had just been raining. He thought the former was more appropriate.

The next day Gavin did something he hadn't done in long time which was skip school. He headed up to the hospital as early as was allowed, eager to tell Michael what happened.

As always he pulled up his chair beside Michael and smiled at him "we did it" He whispered almost silently, knowing it didn't matter if Michael couldn't hear it "They're going to Juvie"

Michael lay there, his chest slowly rising and falling. "I knew you wouldn't talk back, but I thought you'd want to know anyway"

He sat in silence for a second before saying "Oh yeah, Trent wrote me a letter" he took it out and read it aloud to Michael.

"I think I feel a bit sorry for him, Josh said he technically saved your life"

He leaned forward and gave Michael a feather like kiss on his temple, gently brushing a stray curl out of his eye.

"I wish you could hear me, I wish you could call me an idiot" He laughed "Because I am, and I wish that you could hear me tell you how much I love you" Then he put his hands up to his face and sobbed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think 3 more chapters to make 30 but probably only one or two anyhow it's nearly over! I think...


	28. Chapter 28

Time passed slowly for Gavin, but it did, it had to. Everyday was the same, he'd head up to the hospital with a strong but dwindling hope that he'd wake up. He sat in the same chair and did his homework, Michael was the best study companion Gavin ever had.

Recently he'd been trying various techniques, found through internet research, to help wake Michael up. The first one had been talking, reliving memories, this one didn't last long at all. Gavin liked to talk but that was only when there was someone to respond.

The second one was singing. He knew from the start that this was a bad idea but this didn't stop him from belting out a shaky, high-pitched Bohemian rhapsody at the top of his lungs. This method, with four complaints and a warning, had an even shorter lifespan than the talking.

The method he was currently trying was reading aloud and, for some reason, he enjoyed this immensely. It could have been that it was a distraction, something to look at other than the sickly boy before him. It also made him feel closer to Michael, when he was reading he could pretend that Michael was quietly listening, instead of being entirely oblivious to anything going on around him.

The only downside that Gavin had found ws that sometimes he would find a word that he didn't understand and he'd look up form the book asking "Hey, Michael d'you know what this word means?" and, realising his mistake, he'd slowly look down feeling somewhat dejected.

"Gavin?" The doctor, Mr Jenkins said as he entered the room

"Oh" Gavin said, sitting straighter in his chair "Hello"

"Sorry to bother you" he said gently "I just wanted to know how you're feeling"

"I'm fine, thanks"

"Mm, yes "He mused " It's just that we, Lindsay, ray, Josh and I don't want anything to happen to you... as a result of..um  _over caring_ "

"What do you mean?" Gavin queried

"Well" he sighed easing himself into the chair closest to Gavin "everyone who cares about Michael also car about you, and to be frank, they're worried. I have definitely noticed a change in you over the past few weeks, you appear to be chowing symptoms of over-exertion and stress based exhaustion. Are you sleeping well?"

Gavin shook his head "not really, not since...you know"He glanced over to where Michael lay and back to the older man.

"I think he would want you to rest, what would you want Michael to do if he was you and you were him?"

"I..I'd want him to be safe, to take care of himself"

"That's what I think too, Gavin just take care of yourself, Michael won't thank you if you're sick when he wakes up"

Gavin nodded "okay"

Mr Jenkins headed back towards the door "Don't stay too late and don't come too early, he'll be here when you want to see him"

He left and Gavin sat back into his chair and went back to the novel.

This continued for months only this time Gavin was sure to take care of himself too. He went home earlier and went to sleep at a reasonable hour every night. It was tough at first but Gavin wanted to be healthy so he would be ready to help Michael recover when he woke up.

Some days Gavin didn't go to the hospital at all, but this was very rare. It was usually after Lindsay, Ray and Josh had convinced him that it was important to take a break and he appreciated it. There was, of course, a downside, this was that there was always the thought of Michael nagging at the back of his mind, no matter who he was with or where he was.

One particular night they had gone out into a small copse of trees in a nearby park. They were sat closely together around a small outdoor lamp that Josh had thought to bring along. It was late at night and the conversation was centred on the recent event's of Josh's life.

"So everything's fine at home now?" Ray asked

"Uh-huh, dad's finally left , he took all his shit last week and since then everything's been totally fine. And to be honest I don't care that he's gone, he was an asshole anyway"

"I can't believe he was cheating on your mom  _and_ it was with a dude" Gavin said "Doesn't make any sense!, he was the most bigoted dickhead and all that stuff he said to you and Michael"

"I know man, it was all a damn cover up and he tried to get me to forgive him after all the shit he said. He fucked up my brain, he made me feel like shit all the time and wanted me to forgive him after a little sorry?. Fuck him and his boyfriend"

There was quiet between them for a few minutes until Lindsay said "When d'you think he'll wake up?" Suddenly the conversation had swayed to Michael.

"I dunno" Josh replied, obviously not wanting to dwell on the thought"I hope it will be soon though"

"I want it to be before school ends for summer, it's nearly here and I don't want him to miss any of it" Ray said

"Tomorrow would be nice" Gavin said dreamily

"I miss his laugh" whispered ray, staring into the distance

"I miss his crazy curly hair" said Lindsay

"I miss his temper" laughed Josh

"I miss his dimples" Gavin added turning away from the group, he could see it all. It was as if Michael were there. He heard his laugh ring happily through his ears. He saw his reddish curls bouncing as he ran. He felt the distant pain as Michael playfully lashed out at him. He could see his soft curved lips turned upwards in a joyous smile and the small indents that made Gavin want to kiss him. His stomach felt warm at the thought.

"Michael" he said his name so softly, so carefully, that the light breeze took it away into the night, into the darkness. Gavin's calling of Michael's name went unheard by any of those surrounding him. Gavin wrapped his arms tightly around himself, feeling a twinge of loneliness edge its way into his heart.


	29. Chapter 29

Guilt was what Gavin felt as he lay awake in his bed staring out his window at the bright glimmering moon. He hadn't been to see Michael in a week. He had been bed-ridden with a bad flu and Geoff had forced him to stay despite all Gavin’s protests. But he had decided that he was well enough to go tomorrow and was over excited for it.

Gavin shivered and pulled his blankets tighter around himself, itching for Michaels long gone scent. Everyday the loneliness and longing that he felt for Michael increased. It was almost Christmas and that just made his feeling stronger.

Despite their wishes Michael was still there and the summer had been spent lazily lounging around Austin doing pointless teenager-y things like hanging around shops and drinking in random places with people they didn't know.

Because Gavin, Ray, Lindsay and Josh were friends with Michael this gave them a sort of status which meant they were invited to each and every party that was planned, no matter the social status of the person throwing said party. They were once invited to a basement party held by a group of stoners and the next day to a roof party by one of the richest girls in school.

They hardly ever turned these invitations down and it was never hard to convince Gavin to go because they were on after visiting times were up and he was always up for a distraction. Some days he would go into Michaels hospital room with a hangover and sleep it off, resting his head on the edge of the bed.

When there was no party to go to the place they went was a secret secluded area of a small forest where all you could see was the stars and the trees. It was Gavin's favourite place to be. He swore to himself that he would take Michael there one day.

Gavin rolled over, turning his back on the moon and closed his eyes tightly, willing himself to sleep. Then suddenly he was awake and the sun was shining and his right foot was freezing, he retracted inside the blankets.

“Hey Gavin!” he heard Geoff shout form downstairs “Come here!”

Gavin groaned and rolled out of bed, an icy shiver shooting through his body as his foot made contact with the cold, hard, wooden floorboards. He hopped around on one foot, pulling his socks on. Then he padded downstairs.

“Geoff what is it?”

“I'm going into town want me to drop you up to the hospital?”

“Yeah that'd be great”

Half an hour later Gavin was up in Michael's room reading The shawshank redemption when he got to the end of a chair and slapped it down on a modern looking end table near him and pulled his chair up close, studying Michaels face. He looked much more attractive with the tube out of his mouth, it had been gone for a long time and Gavin never wished it back.

He curled his fingers gently around Michaels limp ones and smiled, he was soft and warm and it was comforting.”I love you” He whispered as his gaze slowly drifted back up to his face. Michaels eyes were open, they were out of focus, staring blankly ahead.

“Michael?!”Gavin exclaimed. The boy's limp fingers twitched. Gavin’s heart began to beat faster.

“Dr Jenkins!” He screamed “Holy shit!, Nurse, Dr Jenkins!” With his free hand he jabbed the button for urgent calls to the nurse and waited extremely impatiently.

“What is it Gavin?” Dr Jenkins asked

“H-His eyes!” he pointed “And his hand moved” At that moment Michaels left arm flew up in the air and fell ungracefully back onto the bed, a dull groan came from deep within his throat.

“Martha!, come here!” Called Dr. Jenkins “Call his parents he's waking up!”

“Michael, Michael” Gavin repeated, his eyes starting to open a floodgate of huge round tears to express his sublime happiness “Michael”

Ten minutes passed and Michael's better hand had begun to half-heartedly tug at the cords attached to his body. Gavin swatted his hands away as gently as he could. Michaels eyes began to come into focus and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion “guh-vn??”He mumbled, looking directly into his eyes.

“Yes, It's me, It's okay” He said hanging onto Michaels hand like it was the most precious thing on the entire planet.

“Gavin, I'm sorry” Dr Jenkins said “but can you wait outside, his parents are here” He felt his heart sink. He reluctantly placed Michaels hand down on the bed and left, passing his parents on the way back. He slumped down onto the chair outside the door, refusing to go any further away.

He took out his phone and began dialling numbers, opting to contact Geoff first.

“Hey buddy what’s up?”

“He's waking up”

“What!?”

“Michael's waking up!”

“Holy shit...I'll be right over...fuck” Then Geoff hung up and Gavin brought up Lindsay’s number

“Lindsay?”

“Oh hello Gavin, I thought you were up with Michael today”  
“I am, he's just woken up”

“Oh my god, Ray and Josh are with me, we're coming now, Ray, Josh Gavin just told me-” the connection was cut and he was alone. He sighed and leaned back into the chair. He waited, rather impatiently, for more news to come through.

When the others had come he went to the waiting room to tell them what he knew. As soon as he came through he was bombarded with questions.

“Did he talk?” “Is he moving?” “what did you say?”

“Hey!” Gavin shouted “Calm down a little, I'll tell you so sit down okay?”

Once everyone was seated and the noise level had settled Gavin started to speak “Before I say anything I want you guys to know that he didn't actually do much while I was there” he took a breath “It wasn't like the moves say it is at all, he didn't jump up and pull out his I.V's or anything like that. I had put my book down and his eyes were open, they weren’t looking at anything, they were just open. Then his hand twitched and his arm went up like this” He demonstrated the action, flicking his arm up into the air “then he looked at me and said my name and after that I had to leave”

“so are his parents are in there now?” Geoff asked

“Yeah, they passed me on their way in”

Dr. Jenkins appeared at the door and called Gavin over, he placed a hand on his back and led him down the hallway “Michaels mind seems to be a little foggy he's forgotten some things-”

“he's got amnesia!?”

“Now just hold on a second don't get too excited, I don't think it's permanent he's been remembering things, but slowly.”

“Oh” Gavin choked, all the happiness and excitement that had built up inside him had washed away.

“I want to bring you in to see if it will trigger anything, is that okay?”

Gavin nodded fearing that if he said something now he would start to cry.

“Don't overload him with information, his brain is in a fragile state at the moment. Don't get frustrated if he can't remember something because that might upset Michael and that's the last thing we need” He placed a hand on the door knob and turned to Gavin “you got all that?”  
“Mhmm” was all he could manage.

“Alright” he opened the door, revealing an upright Michael who seemed more than a little upset. He mom and dad were sat around him, his dad looking awkward and his mother trying her best not to cry.

“Mr and Mrs Jones can you leave us for a while please?”

They left quickly. Dr Jenkins and Gavin took their places.

“Okay Michael, do you know this boy?” He gestured to Gavin.

“Michael nodded “yeah, he's the new guy, he calls me Mi-cool and I hate him” He spat “why was he holding my hand?, was he the one who put me here or something?”

Each word felt like a knife being edged into his heart. “I didn't...” he whispered then He looked to Dr. Jenkins helplessly, he didn't know what to say.

“He thought you were just the new kid earlier, he was completely neutral towards you, so this is a good step, trust me”

“Can I know the date now?” Michael asked “I want to know how far behind I am”

“I don't see the point in keeping from you any longer” Dr Jenkins sighed “It's December twentieth”

“Shit, That's months away...I missed all that...I will remember it all, won't I?”

Dr Jenkins smiled “Yes, I'm sure you will...Gavin do you want to talk with him on your own for a little while?”

“Yeah”

Dr Jenkins headed for the door reminding Gavin not to tell him anything too dramatic before he left.

“Why are you here anyway” Michael asked “hey look at me!”

Gavin looked up, Michaels eyes seemed unfamiliar and it broke his heart

“why are you here?” He repeated

“Well, I can't really tell you that. You wouldn't believe me even if I told you”

Michael groaned “No-one will tell me any-fucking-thing, I’ve asked everyone about you but they all say they same thing. Are we friends now or something?”

Despite the situation Gavin smiled “something like that”

“Do you know why _I'm_ here?, They won't tell me that either”

“You got beaten up”

“Aw weak, by who?”

“Brett”

A crease of confusion formed between Michaels eyebrows “But why would he beat me up I've never even spoken to him”  
“Now that's harder to explain, You were angry at Josh because you thought he told everyone that you're...uh told everyone your secret so you went to give him a piece of you mind but he ended up kissing you-”

Michael's eyes widened considerably “He what!?, but he's straight and he hates me!”

Gavin laughed “He had a major crush on you and he's gay, back to the story, so Josh tells Brett what happened and he thinks that it's your fault he's gay because...reasons...and he got Reese an Trent to hold Josh back while he beat you up”

“Brutal”

“right?, and he just left you there for dead”

“Wait if he left me there than who called the ambulance, did I do it?”

“No you were..” the image of Michaels body laying flashed across his mind and Gavin’s hands flew up to his face “no” he breathed

“Uhh, you okay?”

He removed his hands slowly, pushing the image out of his mind “Yeah, no, yeah I was the one who called the ambulance”

“Well, thanks I guess”

“I think I should be off now...” Gavin said, standing up “I'm a bit tired after all that”

“Alright bye Gavin”

Gavin walked out as fast as he could and stormed through the hallway.

“Gavin!” Dr Jenkins called “How did it go”

At this moment he was on the verge of tears “he's the same person but he's so different, I don't know this Michael”

“Gavin, I told you not to worry he'll remember everything soon enough”

“But what if he doesn't?, what if he never remembers me! What if I’m stuck loving him on my own?!” Gavin’s lip wobbled and a tear fell from each eye “I'm going home now”

“Gavin”

He wiped his face and headed through the double doors to find Geoff. “Can you take me home?” he asked once he'd found him and gotten him alone.

“Why?, I thought you wanted to stay until visiting was up?”

“He doesn't remember that we're together, he forgot that we were even friends and I just want to go home and sleep”

“Holy shit, okay let's go, I'll tell griffon first”

Gavin tried his best to put the whole day out of his mind as he shuffled to the car, his energy was low and he felt drained. As soon as they arrived home he went upstairs and curled up his his blanket and cried. After all he had been through, after all those lonely days spent in Michaels room. He had been forgotten and it was the worst pain he had ever felt.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure the next will be that last...so there's that


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it huh, the end of my first ever fanfic. I've got to say it started off with pretty bad writing skills but I think I've overcome a lot of bad writing habits an although I've definitely improved there is still much more room for even more improvement.  
> I also wanted to say a great big thank you to anyone who's stuck around this long!, you deserve a prize for living through my late uploads jeez.  
> Enjoy!

Gavin was fast asleep when his phone rang so late into the night that it could be considered morning. He woke up slowly, his mind dazed in confusion. It took him a while to realise what was happening and once he did he reached for his phone and squinted angrily at the number. He recognised it as Michael's and his heart began to race. He put it to his ear and said "Hello?"  
"Gavin?" Michael asked

"Yes Michael it's me"

"Oh, I found your number but I thought it could be different Gavin because of the whole amnesia thing" He said it casually as if they were talking on the street, not like they were talking while the sun was still down.

"Are you checking numbers or something because it's" Gavin looked up at his alarm clock and the number glowed 3:19 "It's twenty past three and you should probably do things like this during the day"

"No, You're the only person that I called or will call, I wanted to tell you I was sorry for what I said to you earlier"

"What?, why?"

"I remembered that we're friends, all those days we spent at rays and that flag thing..." his voice trailed off like he was remembering it all again right now "Anyway, I didn't mean any of that shit I said today, I didn't know what I was talking about"

Gavin smiled to himself "it's okay, my boi, I'm glad you remembered something"

"I'm still missing a few months but they'll come back... I'm lucky, really, aren't I?"

"I suppose you are... I don't know what I'd have done if you had gotten permanent amnesia"

Gavin considered this. What if Michael had forgotten him completely. Would he have given up on him and moved on or would he have rebuilt their relationship, no matter how long it took?.

"Well I hope you'd try to get to know me again, I know I'm an ass hole but It can't have been that hard to be my friend"

After he had said that Gavin was sure that he would've done anything and everything to be with him again.

"You'd be surprised"

"Shit" Michael said

"You okay?" Gavin asked pulling his knees up to his chest

"Yeah" he whispered, his voice was muffled "There's a nurse wandering about and I'm meant to be asleep- shit I think she heard me!, she's coming back I gotta go"

"Bye, I lov" Gavin stopped himself and felt embarrassed,he'd dodged a bullet there "...uh...bye"

"Come tomorrow okay?"

"I'll be there"

Gavin heard the faint voice of the nurse telling Michael off before he hung up. Then he was alone again. He slid back down into the covers and smiled from ear to ear. He was not forgotten.

Later that afternoon Gavin found himself sprinting up the hospital stairs following a streak of bad luck in which Gavin had missed his bus, waited an hour for another one, which broke down too far away to walk and once he'd finally arrived at the hospital there was an out of order sign on the door.

He groaned and muttered "fuck it" before making a dash for the stairs.

A nurse who had witnessed this tried to call after him, knowing that there was another elevator just a few steps down the hallway, but he was gone.

Gavin rushed to the front desk of the third floor, gasping and panting. The woman at the desk giggled a little at his appearance then asked "Who are you here for honey?"

"Michael" He took a breath "Jones"

She tapped on her keyboard then laughed again, covering her face.

"What?"

"Honey, He's been moved out of the I.C.U to the first floor, ward 118"

He groaned

"Do yourself a favour and use the elevator over there" she said pointing "It still works"

"Thanks" he said shuffling away followed by the woman's faint laughter, he forcefully prodded the button for the first floor and crossed his arms angrily.

The elevator shuddered to a halt and he walked out and searched for a sign for where to go, he called out to a nurse "which way is ward 118?"

She looked at him confusedly "Didn't you just.." she looked at the stairs and shook her head "it's down that way around the corner, there's a number over the door"

"thanks"He turned his back on her and fast walked away arriving at the room at top speed. He opened the door and Michael beamed up at him, Gavin recalled the look of disregard he had received yesterday, a wave of pure happiness washed over him and suddenly everything that had happened was worth it for this one smile.

"you  _can_  come in, you know"

Gavin stepped inside and closed the door "Hey, sorry for being so late"

"No problem" Michael replied, shaking his head at the apology "I was asleep until about twenty minutes ago anyway" Little did Gavin know this was a complete lie. He'd actually gotten up a few hours ago, long before Gavin was supposed to be there and he had waited. He was more than a little disappointed when he hadn't come. He assumed he'd been late but after waiting two hours he had decided he wasn't coming at all. This was the reason he'd been so overjoyed when he'd arrived.

"where's everyone else?, I thought they'd be here too"

"um, well, I just wanted to talk to you" He looked away and Gavin thought he saw the faintest hint of red on his cheeks.

"Did you remember anything else"

"No"Michael said, breaking eye-contact again. "I didn't"

"That's alright" Gavin replied, maintaining his smile "Dr. Jenkins did say it would happen slowly"

"Yeah...did Lindsay tell you why we broke up?, I remember doing it but not why"

In truth Michael knew exactly why he'd broken up with Lindsay. It was Gavin, He had remembered all his feeling's for him and had, again, come to terms with being gay. Which was ten times more easy the second time around. The only thing was he didn't know whether or not Gavin knew. So he held off on this little piece of information.

Gavin also knew exactly why as well, but he didn't know if Michael would believe him if he told him the truth. And if he did tell him his reaction could be something altogether undesirable. So he also kept hold of this knowledge.

"Nah, I never asked her and you didn't tell me either, anyway" he said changing the subject "how is your hand, did it heal well?"

"well" he replied, lifting it up in the air and turning it around " it's a bit weak and I can't really make a fist any more" he tried to curl his fingers but they stopped a few centimetres away from his palm.

"ah, that's not too bad, can you walk?"

"Yes and no, I'm kind of like a toddler, my legs aren't strong enough to keep me up for long" He sighed "I was doing some physical therapy yesterday and I can keep myself up for a bit but then I feel all weak and fall down, It's annoying"

"you'll get there, and when you do, I'll be there" he said, instinctively reaching for Michaels hand but quickly bringing his arm down before he'd actually grabbed it.

"when you're better there's somewhere I want to bring you"

"yeah, where?" Michael asked, curious.

Gavin smirked "you'll have to wait"

Michael jokingly pouted like a child "Asshole, I'm bedridden, look at me! you can't keep a sick guy waiting"

"I'm pretty sure that I can"

They spent they next few hours talking with the occasional innocent flirt thrown in before Dr Jenkins came in and said it was time for Michael to go to Physical therapy.

"Can I just say one thing to Gavin in private before he has to go?" Michael asked

"Of course" Dr Jenkins said before exiting

"I want you to be here at seven thirty sharp on Christmas day, no exceptions"

"But that's after visiting-"

"No exceptions"

"But"

" _No exceptions_ "

Gavin sighed "I'll try my best but no promises okay?"  
"'kay, see you then"

"wait, can I not come back until then?"

"that's right" He replied nodding

"But that's not fair"Gavin protested

Michael shrugged "bye, Gav"

"Bye" he muttered, catching a good look at Michael before he left.

Christmas day, Gavin estimated, took four entire years to arrive. Every minute was an hour and every day felt like an eternity.When the day had finally arrived he got a fairly strange text from Michael.

_M: Bring me a beanie, scarf and coat later._

_G: why?_

_M: reasons_

_G:?_

_M:...you'll see ;)_

_G: :(_

He packed everything that Michael asked for and sat around for an hours before it was finally time to leave, he took one of the only running buses that day to the hospital.

He walked the up the road which was illuminated by street lights to the hospital which was still buzzing with drunken party-goers that had partied too hard. Slipping in was far more easy than Gavin thought it should've been. He just walked straight in and through to the ward, letting himself into Michael's room.

The light was on and Michael was pulling on pants, he turned and saw Gavin "oh, hey are you ready to go?"

"Go?"he asked

"yeah, you said you wanted to take me somewhere, didn't you?"

"yeah I did, but I meant when you were better, not while you can still hardly walk!, you're in no condition for me to take you anywhere!"

Michael laughed "holy shit, I'm fine, they did tests and everything, it's just the muscle thin now"

"I don't think you understand Michael, what if you fall over and bash your head, I don't know about you but I don't think I can handle the prospect of your death twice in my life!" Gavin's bottom lip quivered.

"Sorry... I just thought it would be fun to go out with you" he said "I think we should go, I'll be fine I promise, and you'll be there"

Gavin sighed "If you can walk to me, I'll consider it"

Michael stood up and spread his arms wide for balance and he lifted one leg slowly, swinging it forward and landing heavily on it before he brought the second up with it, he repeated this process until he fell into Gavin's arms.

"I did it" Michael laughed "now we  _have_  to go"

Gavin sighed again and helped Michael back over to his bed "alright we'll go but you have to take it easy, I don't want any incidents, do  _not_ under any circumstances let go of my arm, you  _will_  fall and I don't want that"

"got it dad"

Gavin tipped the contents of his bag across the bed and let Michael dress himself then he helped him up and they linked arms. Getting out was slightly harder than getting in. This was because Michaels slow moving attracted a little bit of attention but they were away before anyone acted on their suspicions.

"Do you have any money?" Gavin asked

"I do, my parents gave me some, I don't know why but they did" He shoved his hand in his pockets "here" he handed Gavin a small wad of tens, it amounted to forty dollars.

They walked down the street a while and Gavin called a taxi, informing Michael that it was much too far to walk, especially with him in this state.

Ten minutes later a taxi pulled up and they piled in, Gavin gave the creepy looking driver the address and they were off. It didn't take all that long to get there but the price was way over the top, the driver claiming it to be a "Christmas tax".

They got out in front of the park and headed through the gate.

"he was so fucking creepy and I think he was wearing a kilt" Michael said

they walked, and they walked and they walked.

"are we nearly there?"

"yes, shut up, I need to concentrate so we don't get lost"

"oh god we're gonna freeze to death out here" Michael said sarcastically "I'm going to die in the middle of nowhere"

" _shut up_ "

They trudged trough the wet leaves, the water penetrating their shoes and seeping into their socks. The cold night air stung at their lungs, not allowing them to relax in any way. The trees toward overhead, their branches cracking the star filled sky with great black lines.

"We're here"Gavin whispered pushing a low hanging branch out of the way and stepping slowly forward.

The sky opened up before them, stretching in all directions.

"wow" Michael said, his jaw hanging open "it's so…wide"

He stood in shocked silence for a few moments before looking up at Gavin and saying something he'd been meaning to say for a while "I remembered it all Gavin a few days ago, I love you, I really do"

"..W- what?" Gavin stuttered in reply, he feared that he had somehow imagined everything he had just heard.

Michael looked deeply into Gavin's sparkling eyes and smirked, you heard me. He hooked his fingers inside Gavin's belt loops and pulled his forward until their hips knocked against each other, then he leaned up to match the other boy's height and kissed him at first gently then more passionately , easing his to tongue inside Gavin's slightly dry mouth before sliding out again. Gavin's arms wrapped around Michael, supporting him. They broke away hesitantly and slowly.

Michael whispered into his ear "I. Love. You. and I'll never forget that, never  _ever_  again"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if Austin actually has a taxi service that runs on Christmas, i tried to google it but no luck.


End file.
